Crosswind
by The shy keyplayer
Summary: I was average... well. At least, I tried to be average. Guess what? It didn't work out so well. Sawada Moriko is my name and I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to be normal as long as I have team 7 there to turn everything weird. (Rated M for language and possible gore)
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: I was average... at least, I tried to be average. Guess what? It didn't work out so well. Sawada Moriko is my name and I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to be normal as long as I have team 7 there to turn everything weird.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

 **Warning: There will be some language in this one and definitely violence too. Well, that's to be expected by a story revolving around _ninjas,_ isn't it? Also, I mixed manga and anime together on some occasions, since I like it that way.**

 **This story is written purely for entertainment, although reviews and criticism will be appreciated.**

 **Now that those are out of the way, please enjoy!**

* * *

 _"THOMAS! NO!"_

 _And all I could see was red, red, red._

* * *

"Listen, Naruto. You failed the last final exam and the one _before_ that too!"

Twirling a short strand of brown hair around my index finger, I continued reading the last paragraph of the seventh chapter with immense concentration. It was pretty interesting how the corpse hadn't really been of Riku's mother, but of a hooker who had supposedly gone missing a month ago-

"You shouldn't be fooling around like that!"

-and to think that that Mrs. Arashi found her husband cheating on her in such a way. Not a surprise that she went batshit insane and proceeded to strangle the poor whore to death. The bitch probably had it coming but eh. What I didn't understand was why Mrs. Arashi had decided to fake her own death instead of just coming clean or killing herself on the spot. Something about being ashamed or something-

"SINCE NARUTO HERE DOESN'T SEEM TO CARE, we're going to have a review test for the transformation technique!"

Cue loud groans, weary sighs and dismayed exclamations. I sighed and simply opted for closing the book in my lap softly before slowly getting off my seat. Damn, just when it was getting interesting too. Why couldn't Naruto get caught _after_ I finished the chapter? And stupid Iruka-sensei. Dragging us into this. I barely spared a glance at the pinkette next to me and spaced out instead. What would Riku do next? The evidence all lead to her mother but without her father cooperating with them on the matter, what could she prove?

"-ko! MORIKO! It's your turn! Quit spacing out!"

I blinked slowly, a dumb 'oh' escaping my lips. Someone was snickering, but I wasn't sure who. I hadn't really been paying attention. All I had in my mind was why Mr. Arashi refused to give the testimony. The Uchiha next to me seemed to sneer in distaste. Taking a lazy step towards Iruka-sensei, I performed the handsign and mumbled an unenthusiastic "transform" in the process.

The teacher gave an approving nod but didn't fail to reprimand me on my way to the back of the line. "If you keep doing this every time, you might fail the exams!"

"Yes Sensei." I muttered, before going off into my own world again. Now where was I? Oh yes, -

Before I could even _think_ any further, the smell of blood and Iruka-sensei yelling whipped me back to reality. Turning my blank gaze to the front, I was met with the awkward scene of a naked blonde hottie striking a pose and red liquid flowing down Iruka-sensei's nose. However, I could care less about Iruka-sensei at the moment because _hot damn those curves._

Forcefully tearing my eyes away from the blonde, I took in a sharp breath. I willed my nose _not_ to bleed. A nosebleed in the middle of class? Definitely not cool. Damn it Naruto, you always use the strangest of ways to rile people up.

"And? How was it? I call it sexy-no-jutsu!" sniffed Naruto proudly.

"YOU MORON! DON'T INVENT SUCH STUPID TECHNIQUES!"

After more yelling on Iruka's part, we got sent home to 'prepare ourselves for the big day!'. I say that in quotiation marks because I'm not very sure my version would sound as enthusiastic as his. Iruka-sensei probably threw a party right about now because he got to get rid of us. Jokes on him, 'cause he'd have to teach another batch of bratty students next year. It was sad how the gentle old Iruka got picked on by most of his students and was the number one prank-target for Naruto. Such a miserable man, really.

Dragging myself home lazily (because breathing in general was too energy consuming), I dug through my pockets for my keys... only to grasp at empty space. I groaned and so did my stomach, since it thought it was the _perfect time_ to remind that I had not eaten anything other than breakfast. I had forgotten my bento at home _again._ There had to be a limit as to how much that happened. And now that I was most excited about eating my juicy seaweed riceballs after a tiresome day full of whiny fangirls and boring lessons, I had forgotten my keys at the academy? Fuck you universe.

It would take a while for mom to come home. She _always_ came home late. That meant I had to sit all day in front of the steps like some kind of loser? Hell no. Maybe the gates of the academy were still open?

But... but they were _so far away..._

No! You gotta sprint Moriko! The riceballs are calling for you!

I just had to suck it up. Without wasting any more time, I took off. Channeling the slightest bit of chakra to my soles, I ran like my life depended on it- and it kind of did because nobody can function without food or water and _god damn it_ why did I have to leave my wallet at home _today_ of all days?!

No, I was not overreacting. The academy was put under heavy surveillance after every academy student went home, since they didn't want a rowdy student, curious parent or sneaky spy to go through the files of clan children, or switch up the team placements. I had to go there quick if I didn't want to get into an argument with a guard about why I should and should not enter the academy at such an hour. I was pretty sure even if I tried to sneak into the academy, I would immediately get caught. I mean, they had chakra sensors there, and I wasn't very keen on getting accused of whatever they thought I was going to do. That would mean they could just fail me automatically and throw me out of the system for being suspicious and unreliable.

No, I couldn't risk that. Not now that I was only _so_ close to graduating. No way! I couldn't wait for mom to come either because she'd either be home at 12am straight or two in the fucking morning. I wasn't willing to freeze my ass sleeping on the roof. Why, why hadn't I opened my window before leaving?! Stupid stupid _stupid_ Moriko!

Maybe I could sleep over at a friends house?

 _No way._ Nori wouldn't let me get a wink of sleep. She would probably go on and on about fashion and boys and more fashion- oh god, no way in _hell_ could I visit her just one day before the exams. I still had to _train._ She was a good friend and all, but she definitely didn't understand what 'responsibilites' meant- if she even knew such a word existed at all.

Sprinting through the streets at full speed wasn't exactly what I would call a piece of cake. Sure, chūnin and Jōnin rank ninja could avoid getting tackled by a mere academy student, but civilians and inexperienced genin weren't _that_ fast. Even I could only go this fast because I had read it in one of the chakra theory books my friend Nori had given me for my birthday. However shallow she could sometimes be, she still had good intentions. Bless her heart.

All was good so far, me dodging and evading carts and people like they were hurdles- I just had to think of it as dodge training. Without any warning, a blonde boy whose arms were overflowing with sponges and buckets of water jumped into my path. I was going too fast and there was _no way_ I could stop now. When he noticed me, he got this 'oh shit' face which many people seemed to make when they knew that they were about to get fucked over. I couldn't blame him. _I_ was surprised too. But I couldn't let myself slow down!

 _'Mori-channnn~! Don't forget uuuus~!'_

For the riceballs, for the riceballs, _for the riceballs-_

Making an incredibly fast twist (which I didn't even know I could _do_ ) to the right, I could just catch his befuddled expression, before I shot a quick _'sorry!'_ at him and resumed my sprinting.

Woah, that was _close._

I didn't have time to dwell on it though. More and more obstacles were starting to come up and I think I had forgotten that this was the time of day where everyone went _home_ , so of course the streets would be crowded. As the crowd thickened, the space I had for running got much smaller. I had to try harder to dodge and _not_ crash into one of the poor civilians. Considering my speed, they'd get a concussion with the force I rammed into them with. What? Civilians were frail- weren't they?

Unfortunately for me, there was a _little_ problem up ahead. If a mob of fangirls blocking my way was considered _little_ at all.

Damn you Uchiha. What the fuck. Why can't you just sharingan them so that their hormones _don't_ rage like one of those underwater waterfalls. Seriously, sometimes I could have sworn that he _liked_ the attention (yeah, he probably did). I had seen an Uchiha do that once though. That poor military police officer had gotten crowded by females like fruitflies do to rotten fruit-not that he could have been compared to a rotten fruit, I mean, he had been fine as hell.

Okay, considering that _that_ particular individual was probably burried several meters in the ground, I shouldn't comment on how fine he was. Necrophilia was _not_ my fetish. Nuh-uh. Gross.

I was closing in pretty fast because _fuck them, I'd bulldose right through those bitches than waste anymore time._

For god's sake, did nobody care?! My _food_ was waiting for me, for crying out loud! Riceballs! _Seaweed_ riceballs!

Fortunately, a pinkette in the crowd seemed to sense my approach. Well, at least _someone_ competent. She yelped, jumping out of the way. That in turn alarmed the others, whose eyes widened in both surprise and confusion. They all immediately parted to let me sprint through the small path that they created, which led to-

"Incoming- Oh shit!"

Before the raven boy had time to react, I gritted my teeth and jumped _right the fuck over him,_ stepping over his head in the process. When I landed on my feet again, I just continued sprinting without looking back. There was an annoyed 'OI!' from right behind me, which I all but ignored. Oh shit, holy fucking cow, I _really_ hoped he didn't have that elephant memory which Uchiha seemed to be famous for. If he did, he would _probably_ want a payback for that one humiliating gesture.

I had managed to get to the academy before the last of the students went home. Apparently, I had forgotten my keys _and_ my book in my haste to get away from the class. Someday, not today but _someday_ , I just _knew_ that my crappy memory and inattentiveness would get me killed.

The rest of the way home, I just walked. One, because I was spent after all the sprinting I had done even if I _did_ use just a sliver of my chakra and two, because I was mentally debating on how to avoid the Uchiha when he decided to sic his fangirls on me. I'm not even kidding. There once was this kid in our class who made fun of Sasuke because he had duck-butt hair. The result was: he decided to quit the academy. Why? Because apparently, fangirls were _hardcore bullies._ I kinda felt bad for the brunette boy but... eeeh. He had been a jerk anyway.

Without any further ado, I _ate_ those fucking riceballs. _And I liked them._ I then promptly fell onto my bed, completely exhausted. It had been a tiring day, both physically _and_ mentally. My book could wait and there was some leftover food in the fridge for mom anyway.

My mind went blank and I felt myself slipping into blissful oblivion. Though I knew I would regret it in the morning. I hadn't changed out of my clothes yet, nor had I taken a bath or brushed my teeth.

 _Oh what the hell. I'll just wake up earlier tomorrow._

* * *

 **A/N: So. My first fanfiction. I'm sorry if there are any grammatical errors in this one. English isn't my first language and I don't have a beta reader. Also, I _know_ that this has been done so. many. fucking. times. before. But I couldn't help it! I tried!**

 ***Cough* Anyway. I hope you enjoyed. Also, just a small warning: I won't be able to update this story regularly, since school likes to make my life a living hell.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

 _It was dark. It was cold._

 _Where was this place?_

* * *

Shit.

 _Shit._

Damn it all.

I was late. _Really_ late.

"MOM?! WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP?!"

On the couch, a figure covered in a ton of blankets mumbled something incomprehensible before going silent again. I let out a long, suffering groan. _This can't be happening. Fuuuuck._ I was late to school _and_ mom had a hangover?!

Quickly preparing a glass of water and painkillers for when she woke up again, I shoved my way out of the messy living room and towards the entrance.

Not even bothering to take a proper bath or brushing my tangled mess of a hair, I _ran like hell_ to the direction of the academy. While dashing through the streets of Konohagakure, all I could think of was _why the fuck my house had to be so far away from the academy._ Really now, why did I have to endure this every freaking morning?!

After 10 minutes of sprinting (it would have taken much longer if I _hadn't_ used chakra), the academy came into sight. I briefly wondered how I could nonchalantly walk through the door and _not_ get my head yelled off. Kami help me, Iruka-sensei had some serious anger issues. Like, chill bro.

Turns out I didn't necessarily need to go through the whole embarrassing ordeal of sliding the door open and getting glared at by my capricious teacher. I had something _much_ better. Oh well, doors were overrated anyway. First floor, second building and fourth classroom to the left, here I come.

* * *

"The first portion of your exams will be a written test. It will affect 50% of your final grades. Please take out your pencils and get ready to-"

Girls and boys shrieked equally girlish as I jumped into the room through the open window _._ In a blur, I cartwheeled over a few desks and skidded to a stop in front of Iruka and Mizuki-sensei. Panting and leaning on my knees as not to keel over, I raised my hand in a weak salute. "H...hey, sensei... am I late?"

Iruka-sensei ran an exasperated hand over his face and Mizuki-sensei sighed wearily. "Yes, Moriko, you are late. Care to explain why you came late to _the graduation exam_ and _through the window_ to boot?"

There were a few snickers amongst the the kids but Mizuki-sensei silenced them with his evil glare of doom. He was creepy as _fuck,_ that one. I never really got the good kind of vibes from him but... eh, at least he wasn't a dick... or was he? Banishing all thoughts about Mizuki-sensei's (possible) dickery, I sheepishly scratched the back of my head. "Well... um, you see... haha, I kinda..."

The penetrating stares of my teachers plus my classmates did nothing to calm my nerves. What was I supposed to tell them? That I had slept in just because I'd _stupidly_ relied on my mother to wake me up? They'd laugh at how stupid that reasoning was. If I hadn't been lazy enough not to set the alarm clock which was, by the way, _just next to my bed,_ then this wouldn't have happened at all. That was no way for a reliable ninja to act. Uuuuuugh. Responsibilities.

That's why I made something up... even though they clearly knew I was lying straight to their faces. "Ahaha, you see, there was this kind old lady and, well, she kinda needed some help with, uhm, her groceries... since she had back pains... hah..."

Iruka-sensei suddenly shivered and looked as if he was in pain. Mizuki openly facepalmed. "You... you know what. I don't want to know. Just... _never_ make that excuse again. Got it?" The brunette teacher then pointed a shaky finger to a front seat between the Akimichi and... Tobio. Damn that bastard. The guy in question looked away guiltily even as I strutted towards the seat next to him and sat, giving him the evil eye.

"If we catch you cheating, you will be held back another year. Now, please get your pencils ready. Don't turn the page until we tell you to." Iruka-sensei told us.

While Mizuki was busy putting the papers on our desks, I mouthed a 'we _will_ talk' at Tobio. Seeing him pale brought a sick sense of joy to me. The corners of my mouth lifted into a smirk. But I was not amused. At all. I was going to rain _hell_ on this dickhead for whatever he did to Nori this time. She seemed pretty upset about it.

Taking a pencil from under my desk (because I _always_ kept emergency pencils), I waited for Mizuki-sensei to finish giving us the test papers and Iruka-sensei to announce the start of the exam. I felt nervous. Not the 'Oh-I'm-sure-I'll-pass-it-but-I-still-am-uneasy' kind of nervous but more like 'Fuck-I'll-totally-bullshit-this' kind. Tests had never been one of my strengths. Mainly because my listening ability was non-existent since I seemed to space out a lot and I was just too lazy for studying.

To be fair, the texts given us for studying were absolutely, _mind numbingly_ boring. I had no idea how the smart people in our classroom were able to read those. I had always been better off learning on the field anyway.

Iruka-sensei suddenly said "Start."

I almost jumped out of my skin. Did I have ADHD or something? Nah, I definitely could _not_ be called hyperactive. God forbid I had to deal with _that._

The first thing I did upon turning the paper over, was to write my name on it. Then, I proceeded to skim over the questions. It took all of my willpower not to enter panic mode right then and there. What the hell was with these questions?! What the... what... I can't even... what the fuck.

I _really_ should have studied instead of counting the cracks on the ceiling.

The minutes ticked by and all I could do was write snippets of what I had heard during lessons. Cheating was _not_ an option because the teachers were watching us like hawks. Why did I have to sit at the front row? Why did Iruka-sensei have to be such a bugger?

There was someone whimpering behind me and mumbling about what a bitch geography was. I had to wholeheartedly agree. Where the hell are you, rice country?! Why aren't you on the map?!

After what felt like forever, Mizuki-sensei signaled the end of the written exams. I let out a deep, depressed sigh and sank lower into my seat. I fucked it up. I was going to fail. Shit shit _shit._

There was a tiny voice at the back of my head, rocking back and forth with a tinfoil hat and whispering 'there's still the pyhsical portion of the exams'. Hope bloomed within me. But they were swiftly crushed by another voice, whispering 'but the written exams make up 50% of our final points...' Fuck my life.

In the middle of my depression, a hand lay itself on my shoulder. I craned my neck to see whose hand it was, and made eye contact with a deep sky blue stare. The number one prankster of our village, Uzumaki Naruto. I regarded him cooly, wanting to get over whatever he wanted to talk about beacuse _damn_ was this position uncomfortable. He narrowed his gaze at me. "Hey, aren't you that guy-"

Before he could finish his sentence, a certain brunette teacher butted in. "NARUTO! Silence! I don't want any trouble from you, young man!" The blonde opened his mouth as if to protest, but Iruka-sensei silenced him once more. "The exams are still on. You will be kicked out if you cause any inconveniences to your classmates. Don't forget what happened last time you did that."

Naruto winced and pulled himself back as if stung, but he didn't fail to shoot me a look. I simply shrugged and turned around again, intent on actually listening to Iruka for once.

"First, you will be tested on speed, strength and taijutsu. After that, we will reguire you to show us how well you can perform handseals and genjutsu. As to ninjutsu, that will be in the final exam. If your name is called, come to the classroom next door. The last subject of the exams will be revolving around the clone jutsu."

After the two teachers left, the class errupted into chatter.

I shivered in anticipation, ignoring the loud shriek coming from behind me. _Oh the possibilities._ I admit, ninjutsu had never been one of my strongest points. Everytime I tried molding my chakra into a weak D-rank jutsu, it backlashed. Basically, I sucked at chakra control. But with the help of Nori (and by extension Tobio), I got the hang of basic chakra control exercises. I still could not even think of doing a single weak jutsu, but I could say with confidence that I was a master at the three academy taught D-rank techniques.

I had to work my ass off to achieve such an accomplishment. Do you have an idea how hard it is to combine the clone jutsu with the replacement technique? My chakra was thick and unyielding. For me, it felt more like trying to pull out teeth than controlling the flow of water. It had been hard for me. Although my mother hadn't pressured me to continue with my studies as a ninja, I had not wanted to give up. Life as a civilian, as a normal individual- it just... wasn't for me. I could feel the energy running through my veins, the want to _slice_ and _dice._ It wouldn't do for such a violent desire to sit within me, waiting to be unleashed. It would be a total waste of potential.

Just then, I remembered Tobio. I had some beef to discuss with that guy, didn't I? I turned around, only to see that his place was empty. Giving off an icy wave of annoyance, my face contorted itself into a grimace. Where did that idiot go?! "TO-BI-OOO..."

While going through possible murder plans in my head, I felt a hand tap on my shoulder. I swiveled to face whoever it was that dared to interrupt my current sense of entertainment. "WHAT!" I roared.

"U-uh... you're kinda... choking some people... 'ttebayo..." Naruto was stammering, beads of sweat falling from his face and creating a small puddle on his desk. Looking around, I could see that everybody in the classroom seemed to radiate uneasiness. Was that... had that short blunette girl _fainted?_ Oh shit.

The killing intent in the air dispersed immediately and I could pinpoint the exact millisecond everybody took a relieved breath. Scratching my neck sheepishly, I laughed. "Oh... sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

The blonde looked massively relieved and despite the scare I had just given him minutes ago, he spoke to me with curious eyes. "Oi, weren't you that guy from yesterday?" I gave him an uncomprehending look. He huffed. "Y'know, that time where you made that super fast twist! What was that about anyway? I almost dropped those 'cause of you! Iruka-sensei would have been _so_ mad."

Realization dawned on me as I remembered the blonde kid carrying all those cleaning tools. " _You_ were that? Ahahaha! I didn't recognize you at all! I must be an idiot. You're nearly impossible to miss with that bright blonde hair and hideous orange clothes."

The Uzumaki looked positively offended. "Did you say 'hideous'?! No way! I don't want to be told that by someone with pointy teeth! And what's up with that boring outfit? Nothing but black and gray!"

I looked down at my attire and shrugged indifferently. A sleeveless gray hoodie and standard black ninja pants with fishnet leggings. Bandages were wrapped up to my elbow on both of my arms and I guess my pointy shark teeth _did_ look weird. The teeth didn't bother me much though, since they made it easier for me to bite and tear at enemies. My straight dark brown hair was chin-length as not to get in the way while fighting and I found the pair of intense brown eyes I possessed quite helpful at scaring people off. My height was intimidating too. I mean, I was almost a head bigger than my other classmates.

I grinned. It was kind of fun, watching this person rile himself up for no particular reason. Naruto then suddenly leaned forward conspiratorially and whispered, "Do you have any idea why they are... um, glaring at you?" I blinked. "What?"

The whiskered boy rolled his sky blue eyes. "Y'know, the girls.. they're glarin' at ya." I looked around, only to catch most of the girls turn their heads at the last second. The boy then blinked, confused. "You mean, you didn't feel their Killing Intent? They looked at you so scary... even Sakura-chan! What did you do?!"

My mouth formed an 'o' shape. "Ah, well. About _that..._ I kinda, _sorta,_ broke through their fangirl crowd and jumped over the Uchiha's head... I had places to be. You understand, right?"

Naruto burst out laughing. I regarded him with a deadpan stare as he continued busting a gut. The other's didn't pay us much mind, since they were long since used to the prankster's rambunctious behaviour. I just didn't understand what was so funny about what I had said.

After Naruto regained his breathing, he shot a beaming grin at me. "That's _awesome!_ Hey hey, how did his face look like when you did that? Did you actually _step_ on his head and jump away just like that?! You're so- that's just- ahahaha! How did I not meet you before?!"

I shrugged. "Well, I got _just_ transferred into this class two weeks ago. You're that infamous Uzumaki Naruto who likes to skip classes right? That's probably why you didn't even know I was in your class."

He hummed. "Why did ya got transferred, 'ttebayo?"

"Don't know. Special occasion, I guess."

All in all, Uzumaki Naruto was a pretty okay guy. I loved getting him annoyed because _come on,_ who else could pull off such hilarious faces if not him?

"Sawada Moriko."

Standing up from my seat, I sent a quick wink at the blonde which he returned with a thumbs up. He then proceeded to snort and errupted into a fit of giggles. "'M-moriko'? Dude, you've got a girl name! Ahahahaha!"

I rolled my eyes but didn't make any move to clear the misunderstanding. I was halfway out the door anyway. Licking my lips, I mentally prepared myself, before sliding the door open. A small smirk graced my lips as I caught sight of the row of gleaming headbands in various shades of blue.

 _Game on._

* * *

I looked around, eager to see a familiar brunette with gorgeous green eyes. Had she come? She hadn't forgotten, had she? Mom _did_ love me after all, despite being busy with work most of the time. My good mood dampened when I realized that her presence was absent from the crowd of parents and my shoulders sagged in disappointment. Why couldn't she get a day off today? Wasn't her daughter more important than money? Frustrated thoughts filled my mind. One day, for sure, I would get her out of that business. That _nasty_ business, where she came home with hickeys and lovebites all over her body. It was a disgusting profession which I didn't want her to be a part of.

Just as I was going to go wherever my feet took me and sulk there as not to disturb anyone with my dark mood, a sweet voice called out my name. "Mori-chan! Mori! You graduated! Congratulations! I'm _so_ happy for you!"

Nori, the beautiful dirty blonde girl with emerald eyes, tackled me into a tight hug. Trailing after her was a chuckling Tobio, the joy evident on his face as he played with the fabric of his Konoha headband.

I hugged the blonde girl back and laughed. "Can't believe how much I love you two for coming here. I thought I would have to spend rest of the day sulking in some corner! Hey, Nori, won't your parents make a fuss when they see you gone?"

She shook her head. "Nope, I told 'em. They sent a cake for both Tobio and you! Somehow, they were pretty sure you two would pass..."

Tobio was an orphan, so there really wasn't any point in asking if he was allowed to or not. Besides, Nori always lighted up when this guy came into the picture. Long ago, when I had entered the academy 6 years ago, Nori had been my only friend there. She had had a pretty hard crush on Uchiha Sasuke since she had first lain her eyes on him. But he had mercilessly broke her frail heart into a thousand pieces, telling her to 'piss off because you're annoying'.

I had _really_ wanted to rip that pretty hair of his out of their roots. How _dare_ he make her cry?! Damn bastard! I had refused to even look at that hideous creature for as long as Nori continued looking like somebody had murdered her kitten. Nothing I did could lift her mood up. Even when I did that ridiculous trick where I had to balance a stack of books on my head and pencils on the tip of my fingers, she would only smile sadly.

(I _may have_ or _may have not_ used chakra to do such a thing but that isn't relevant right now.)

Then, Tobio came into the picture. He had accidentally stumbled upon Nori having one of her breakdowns. Sasuke's, her first love's cruel words to her had made her anxious of never being loved again, as well as conscious of her appearance. She actually thought she was too ugly to ever have a boyfriend and that was absolutely not true. Like any normal girl, she wanted to be a lovely bride in the future. The Uchiha had _crushed_ those dreams with just a few words.

Tobio had been kind and caring with Nori, telling her that the bastard wasn't worth it. The moment I saw Nori's green eyes sparkle in awe, I knew she had fallen. And I had teased both of them non-stop about their little crushes to each other. I loved how they both blushed and stuttered at the same time. I had a habit of teasing people I found cute, and they just so happened to be absolutely adorable together.

The three of us had gotten close since then. And when Nori had announced that she wanted to drop out of the acdemy when we all were 8, Tobio and I had been devastated. Wouldn't that mean we had to separate? After all, Tobio was in a different class than me and Nori. That meant it would get much harder to meet each other with Nori deciding to go to the civilian school.

In the end, we came to the mutual agreement of meeting each other every sunday or whenever one of us wanted to have an emergency meeting about personal matters. It was hard, but we were able to maintain our close-knitted relationship.

Slinging an arm around both of their shoulders, I laughed boisterously. "Wahahaha! Your parents are the best, Nori!" I then added with a dark undertone, "Oh and Tobio... I think we gotta talk about why Nori looked so downtrodden that last time I saw her, hm?"

The boy in question shivered. "Uhhh... yes, Moriko-sama."

The rest of the evening was spent goofing off with the two of them. Getting kicked out of bars because we were still underage, bullying Tobio for hurting Nori and chasing squirrels all over the forest. The ache in my heart from the absence of my mother faded gradually. We stayed up till late, discussing nonsense and teasing each other.

Our fun was interrupted by an emergency alarm. All chūnins and above were to inform themselves about the situation while genin and civilians were ordered to go home. We bid our farewells to Tobio before I dropped Nori off at her place and went home myself.

I was greeted with the sight of a sleeping and utterly exhausted looking woman on the couch. Brushing her brown locks away from her face and tucking them behind her ear, I gave a slight smile at the banner she clutched tightly in her hand. 'Congratulations', it read.

That night, I slept with a smile overtaking my whole face. Because that's what mattered. Mom had remembered.

 _I'll get you out of that place soon enough._


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you guys so much for reviewing, following and favoriting! I couldn't keep the grin off of my face when I saw how many people read this story...**

 **In response to my reviewers:**

 _ **moops:**_ **Who said Moriko was the one reincarnated? *wink wink* *hint hint***

 _ **Shadow of God:**_ **I'll try hard not to drop her into the cliché category:D I'm glad that you found it interesting!**

 **And now to the story...**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

 _Her hair, her nose, her mouth…_

 _Despite her beautiful attributes, it was her eyes I missed the most._

* * *

 _Hanako slid a perfectly manicured finger down Ichiro's cheek. The corners of her cherry red lips lifted into a bewitching smile._

"Oi."

" _Then I'll just have to teach you, won't I?" she uttered. Ichiro's eyes, however reluctant, travelled from her perfectly glossy lips down to the curve of her neck. How soft and pale her skin looked. He weakly tried to calm down the naughty thoughts running wild in his head. The first two buttons of her white blouse were unbuttoned, giving him a clear view of her rather impressive cleavage._

"Oi."

" _Hana-" "Call me Sensei." The beautiful blunette then proceeded to get closer to his face. The boy's heart thundered irregularly in his chest. The color drained from his face, as all the blood had most likely gone somewhere else. "You still haven't figured it out?" Ichiro shook his head dazedly,not able to utter a single word as his teachers bust was shoved in his face. The woman smirked seductively. "Well… looks like I'll have to punish you."_

"OI. Look here."

I hastily snapped the book in my hands closed. "W-what!" a high-pitched squeak in response to whoever interrupted my reading. The Uchiha, seated in the row behind mine, raised an eyebrow. "Your nose. It's bleeding."

I blanched. "GAH!"

Furiously wiping the blood off of my face and onto my sleeves, my face fell when I was met with the sight of bloodied white bandages. "Aw man," I whined. "They were the third set! Now I gotta wash 'em."

My ears twitched when I heard a silently muttered, "…that's for being a pervert…" coming from the dark haired male. Turning in my seat to face him fully, I stared him down with furrowed eyebrows. "Wait… when the hell did you get here?"

He huffed, flipping his bangs away from his face and looking at me like I was stupid. Woah there. No need to show off your fabulous hair flip. "I walked into the room while you were busy drooling over that book. Some ninja you are," he paused. Then sneered. " _loser._ "

I continued looking at him with a deadpan stare. "That insult is so old that it's not even funny. I should help you come up with newer and more effective ones than those- seriously, you suck at coming up with insults."

He bristled. " _You-"_ I interrupted him. "Last time it was 'you are annoying'. That other time, it was 'dobe'. I'm starting to think you only know low-level insults such as 'idiot', 'bastard' and 'moron'. Everbody in the academy pretty much knows your jibes by heart already, thanks to Naruto-san… and some of your fan-girls had great contribution to that too."

He opened his mouth as if to say something but closed it again. Putting his nose up in the air, he hmphed. I took that as a sign that this conversation was over, since his majesty didn't deem my reply worthy of answering. Turning back to the front, I sent a mournful glance at my book. Sighing, I put it in my pocket, since I couldn't continue the explanatory meeting with a bloody nose. What would my soon-to-be teammates and sensei think?

Soon, my other classmates started coming. There were people from other classes too, such as Hiromi and Fūko. I had never really tried socializing with the kids in my former class, so we mostly ignored each other. I inwardly gave myself a pat on the shoulder for coming early and reserving a seat for Tobio. Usually it was _him_ that came late to class, not me. Last week at the graduation exams had just been an exception.

"Hey! Hey, Moriko!" a loud voice interrupted my inner turmoil about ' _should I put glue on his seat or not?'_. Tobio, as kind as he was, was weak against pranks. He could _not,_ for the life of him, recognize the signs of even the most obvious ones.

"Yeah?" I muttered, without turning around. I still had the decision hanging above my head. Glue or no glue? While it would be hilarious to see his 'what the fuck' face, it would also be a bit mean. I mean, that wouldn't really be a good presentation to his teammates and teacher. Nori would most likely laugh her ass off though…

"MORIKO!" A voice shouted into my ear. I almost jumped out of my skin. Whipping around, I was met with the beaming face of one happy Uzumaki. "Look, Naruto. I'm sure you're overjoyed that you've passed the exams but _please don't fucking shout in my ear._ "

He sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Oh, sorry. My bad. But hey! I passed! Can you believe it?! I can believe it! 'ttebayo!" I saw the Uchiha next to him roll his eyes- but Naruto didn't need to know that.

I hmmed. "Yeah, that's great… hey, Naruto-san, have you seen Tobio?" The blonde shook his head. "Uhm… who's Tobio?"

"I'M Tobio! Nice to meetcha!" This time, I really jumped. Glaring at the brunette kid, I growled. "Tobio… I swear to Kami if you sneak on me like that _one more fucking time…"_

He quickly saw the danger and waved his hands in front of him as if wanting to create an invisible shield. "N-no, I get it. Please don't tell her…?"

I smirked. He shivered. Due to the circumstances of me knowing some of his _very_ embarrassing moments which Nori didn't get to tease him about, I had the advantage of threatening him on some occasions. Like that time he accidentally groped one of his female classmates. Her high-pitched shriek nearly made everyone's ears bleed.

I sent him an innocent grin. "Nooope, I won't. As long as you behave, that is…" He furiously nodded. Naruto leaned from his seat to whisper something into my ear. "I don't know who that is, but you've got him _whipped._ " A smile formed on my face. "Is that so? I'm glad. It was hard training him, ya know…"

"Hey! Don't speak as if I'm not here!"

Naruto leaned back in his seat while Tobio and I continued our bickering. Some pinapple headed boy- Nara Shikamaru, I think?- questioned the blonde about why he was here when he had obviously failed. Naruto only put on a cocky grin. "I passed. Can't you see it?"

I scoffed. "Naruto-san, I don't think he can see it. Your hair is covering most of it." He only realised it now? Hah, what a dork.

The door to the classroom suddenly snapped open, revealing a pinkette and a blondie. "GOAL!",they both shouted out. I couldn't keep myself from sweat dropping. Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino had one of the most well-known rivalries, after Naruto and Sasuke's of course. It was said that they had once been best friends- well, until 'Sasuke-kun' came into the picture. That guy really had a knack in destroying relationships and breaking girls' hearts.

"I win again, Sakura!"

"What are you talking about? My toe entered the class before yours by a centimeter."

"Are you blind? I was obviously first."

"Nuh-uh, no way, you pig!"

"You're such a little liar, forehead girl!"

Naruto's head whipped around immediately, his blue eyes settling on Sakura. The admiration in his eyes couldn't be mistaken. I smirked. I seemed to do that a lot nowadays… But who cared? I had a new thing to tease him about! Snickering, I pointedly ignored Tobio's quizzical stare. He didn't need to know that one.

Sakura raced to Naruto's place all of a sudden. Before the poor blonde had even finished his greeting, the pinkette shoved him out of the way and greeted her 'Sasuke-kun'. The Uchiha only looked at her from the corner of his eyes, exasperation written all over his face. "C-can I sit next to you?" she fidgeted slightly, waiting for his approval. I found it was kind of cute- well, weren't it for her obsession with the last Uchiha, I might have considered her nice… but eeeh.

Ino apparently didn't like that. "Hey! I'm going to sit next to him."

"First come, first serve." Sakura stuck out her tongue.

"I came into the classroom before you!" Ino rebutted. By now, other girls who had been too shy to say anything before were starting to come out. I decided that I wanted nothing to do with where this was going. Holding up a hand for Naruto to take, I snickered. "Sucks to be you."

He glared but took my hand to stand up nonetheless. Sasuke looked decidedly like he didn't give a damn either way. That seemed to infuriate Naruto even more.

I refused to get involved with the whole situation and continued chattering with Tobio instead. "What were you saying? Something about that sword we saw last week?"

He nodded. "Yeah! It would totally suit you, Moriko. Besides, didn't you say you were sick of practicing with the bō staff anyway?"

I chuckled, absolutely giddy at telling him about my present. "Well, you see… mom bought me one as a present for graduating."

His eyes widened. "She did? Woah, Moriko, that's awesome! How is it?"

"It's very light and not very long, but very sturdy. I love it. I didn't bring it with me today, since I don't think we'll need it."

"You're saying that Kaoru-san hasn't mistaken a katana for a sword? I mean, _I_ never knew the difference between the two before you told me."

I rolled my eyes. "Either one goes for me and you know it. Even though I prefer swords, it doesn't mean I'll be unhappy with anything else. Besides, you know I could never throw away her presents. They're just too precious."

His eyes bulged. "You mean… you still have that dress she gave you?! The pink one, with frills?! For real?!"

I wanted to tell him to shut up but… well, when his elbow bumped against Naruto, who had been in an intense staring contest with Sasuke two minutes prior, my jaw fell open. Tobio didn't notice my gaping expression and had to find out his mistake on his own. "So-" he shrieked. "-rrrrrry?!"

The fangirls were frozen, Naruto and Sasuke were both spitting out the tastes of each other and I was clinging onto my seat, trying not to laugh my ass off. Internally giggling, I patted Tobio's shoulder in an attempt to snap him out of his shock. "N-nice… heh… m-move… aha..pft… hahaha…"

He recoiled. "I-Is it my fault?"

I put my head on my desk and continued trembling in restrained laughter. "Y-yes… It is."

Moral of the story: Don't underestimate fangirls. They have the capability to team up and beat the shit out of you.

* * *

"Starting today, you are all official ninjas, but you all are still new genins. It's going to get harder from here."

Pointedly ignoring Naruto's dying whale noises, I concentrated on Iruka-sensei's speech. Despite just wanting to fall asleep, I willed myself to listen. This was important- I couldn't afford to miss the information he was giving us.

"This year, there will be a slight change in the system. You will be divided into teams of four or teams of three, where you will accomplish missions under a jounin teacher."

That caught my interest. What had changed? Why were they changing the number of team members? Yes, teams of four had certainly been heard of before, but they had never made it official. My eyes narrowed and I looked around. There were several others who found this to be suspicious.

From behind me, I could hear Ino teasing Sakura about who'd get to be put on Sasuke's team. I understood why the pinkette felt uneasy about that: It was a given that the two students with the highest scores and the dead last teamed up. It had always been like that. Currently, Sasuke had the top scores for the boys while Ino was in the lead of the female ones. Naruto and that hyūga girl were the dead lasts of each category. It wasn't hard to figure how the teams would end up at all. It would either be a team made of Sasuke, Ino and Naruto plus an additional team member or Sasuke, Ino and Hinata plus an additional teammate.

But that wasn't any of my business. I just hoped I'd get teamed up with Tobio so that I wouldn't have to work with strangers.

"We will now announce the teams…" Iruka-sensei started. That's when I noticed something. Why wasn't Mizuki-sensei there? He always volunteered to help. I dropped the subject quickly though, since I had never been too fond of that teacher and I'd probably never see him again after graduating anyway.

"Group 1… Tachibana Tori, Nakamoto Keita, Yasutake Aina and Matsuno Tobio…"

My face made contact with the desk the same time Tobio's face did. We both groaned in unison. Naruto snickered from behind me. "'Sucks to be you', eh?" I groaned again. "Please shut the hell up."

The rest of the meeting went by with Iruka-sensei calling out random names. From the expressions on their faces, nobody was very happy with who they were teamed with. Someone even asked if they could switch teammates. He got yelled at by Iruka-sensei because it apparently was 'rude to disrespect Hokage-sama's choices'.

When it came to team 7, I immediately perked up because Naruto's name was called first. Let's see who that bastard was paired up with.

"Group 7… Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Sawada Moriko."

I blanched. Shit. I miscalculated. Naruto's soul was slowly escaping his body while Sakura continued rubbing herself against a very irritated Uchiha. Iruka-sensei continued as if three of his students _weren't_ just mentally murdering each other. Sakura was _not_ included because she was busy giving Ino the peace sign.

"Group 8… Hyūga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino."

From where he was sat, Nara Shikamaru sighed. "Why do girls like such a guy anyway?"

"Well," I quipped. "It's the hormones. Uchiha here just so happens to have an exceptional amount of androstenedione. Coupled with the bad boy attitude which girls seem to dig nowadays and the 'one of a kind' thing, I think they'd rather shag him than listen to his rants about how much he hates life."

Naruto laughed out loud at that. "AHAHAHA, THE BEST ONE YOU'VE GOT YET!" I winked. "Thank you, I try." I think Sasuke was desperately trying to make me go up in flames by the way he was glowering at the back of my head, but his killing intent got nothin' on me.

Ino looked like she had difficulties though. "Andro- ando- andri- Argh! What _is_ that?!" Sakura popped a vein. "You're not supposed to be asking THAT, Ino-pig! The question is, why the hell are you butting into other people's business?"

Ignoring that question, I waited for the Nara's answer. "That might just be it." He muttered. "But doesn't that mean he's got too much of testosterone and cortisol too?"

My eyes widened. "I had… never thought of _that_ before…"

" _What_ are you two _talking about?!"_ Ino shrieked. Sakura looked increasingly annoyed by her rival. "Aren't you supposed to be a Yamanaka?! How do you _not_ understand?!"

Naruto just continued laughing, Tobio facepalmed and if looks could kill, Shikamaru and I would have been dead by now. Thanks Sasuke. We love you too.

"Ugh! You're just _so_ confusing, Shikamaru! And insensitive! I wouldn't want to team up with a guy like you."

"Group 10…" Iruka started. "Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji."

The lazy boy smirked. "Looks like you have to team up with me."

"Grrr.."

A (not so) innocent smile made it's way onto my face. I really had to stop doing that- a fake smile with two rows of shark teeth looked more threatening than soothing. "My sincerest sympathies, Yamanaka-chan. How I wish we could trade places but alas, it was not meant to be."

Her eyebrow twitched. "Oh _shut up_ you."

We left Ino alone to her inner turmoil after that.

"That's it for the groups-" Before Iruka-sensei could finish his speech, Naruto stood up abruptly. "IRUKA-SENSEI!"

Ow, _fuck,_ Naruto. Could you _not_ shout while speaking?! I'm going deaf here!

"Why is a top student like me in a group with this guy?!" I snorted. He should have learnt by now that fangirls were not to be underestimated. Sakura was on that shit so fast I almost got whiplash. "YOUUUU-" She began, only to be cut off by the teacher. "Sasuke graduated with the highest scores. And you, Naruto, got the worst scores. This happens because we want to evenly divide abilities between the groups-"

"Then why did you put me and Haruno-chan in the team?" I asked. Now his attention was on me. Tobio, Naruto and Sakura were giving me questioning looks. Sasuke, since he was better than everybody, only gave me a glance. I didn't stop there though. "Uchiha has got the best scores and Naruto-san has the worst. They, logically, were put into the same team. What I don't understand is why you have put me and Haruno-chan here. Yamanaka-chan, having the highest scores amongst the females in class, should have been the one in this team instead of Haruno-chan. And I _really_ don't understand what I am here for."

The brunette teacher actually looked like he was contemplating. "These are very good points, Moriko. Since it was requested that the Ino-shika-cho trio gets teamed up again, we had to put someone else with the two. Sakura was the perfect choice. She had the highest scores in the written exams, but failed at the physical ones. To balance it out, we thought to put you into the team too, since you lagged at the written tests but got high scores in the physical portion. Despite your flawed logic, I'm glad you've tried analysing it on your own. About time you got cured of that laziness."

I sunk into my seat and blew my bangs away from my face. Lazy? Since when?

…Okay, maybe I was a _bit_ lazy. Big deal.

" I'm going to introduce your jounin teachers in the afternoon. Meeting adjourned until then!"

I could only watch in amusement as Sasuke sped out of the room without wasting a single second. Sakura's pink hair was briefly visible in the crowd of fangirls chasing after the dark haired Uchiha before I lost track of her. Naruto had mysteriously vanished. I sighed. "Well, Tobio, seems like it's just you and me-" "Sorry, I think I have to go eat with my teammates. Bye!"

… That son of a bitch.

After Tobio ditched me, I just went and bought some mochi ice cream to eat somewhere. But where? Nori was most likely still in school, Tobio's team definitely wouldn't be happy with me interrupting their bonding time and _my_ team… ehhh, I really didn't want to know what they were up to.

That's when I saw the three familiar faces. Climbing onto the roof, I waved up to the Ino-shika-cho trio. "How's it going?"

The blonde girl seemed to flinch. "It's _you!_ What are you doing here?" she spat. I hauled myself up by the balcony railing and landed next to her. "Well, you see, my friend ditched me and my team kinda disappeared. So, I'm here!"

Ino glared and turned her head away. A slight blush was tainting her cheeks. Shikamaru and Chouji raised their eyebrows. I, however, whined. "Aw, come on. What did I do to you?"

She actually pouted. "How dare you speak that way about Sasuke-kun? You too, Shikamaru! I won't forgive you for this!" I plopped down next to chouji and started taking bites out of my green tea mochi ice cream. "Sorry about that. But really now, what do you see in that guy? The hormones may be a factor but… just _why?"_

Shikamaru shrugged. "That's what I've been trying to understand for a while now."

The blonde Yamanaka popped a vein. "Why the hell are you talking so familiar with each other?! You've just officially met _today!"_ I grinned stupidly and sing-songed " _loneliness brings people together ̴"_

Her face went red from anger. "I don't want to hear _anything_ from you! Shut up and eat your ice cream in silence!" She then proceeded to steal a strawberry mochi ice cream from my package and throw it into her mouth. I looked at her in horror. "My… my m-mochi ice…" She only blew air from her nose and leaned against the railing again. Chouji patted my shoulder sympathetically. "I know that feeling… want one?" he held out a chips for me. My eyes watered. "You… you're kind!"

Suddenly, Shikamaru spoke up. "Hey… isn't that Naruto?"

Ino's head whipped around. "What?"

They got all wide eyed when Naruto jumped onto the unsuspecting Uchiha who had been nibbling on a riceball before he got ambushed. Chouji just continued munching on his chips happily while I pointedly ignored what was going on.

"Naruto, you're going to get it if you hurt Sasuke-kun!" Ino growled. The Nara turned to face me. "Aren't you going to do anything? They're your teammates, right?" I sighed. "They may be my teammates, but their personal lifes don't concern me. Besides, I'll most likely get an accidental punch in the face just because I tried stopping them. It'd be great to act the part of the hero, but I prefer to keep my face intact, y'know?"

He nodded in agreement. "Hm, I see… that would be troublesome."

There were rumbling noises coming from inside the classroom Naruto had ambushed Sasuke in. "What… what happened?" The Yamanaka girl muttered. Eventually, a smirking Uchiha slid the window open again and jumped away. That made the blue eyed girl laugh. "Of course, Naruto is no match for Sasuke-kun!"

Shikamaru yawned. "He lost again, that idiot." I looked up from my mochi ice cream. "With which foot did the Uchiha step out first?" They looked at me weirdly. Even Chouji. "Uh… with the right?" The Nara boy said, unsure. I closed my eyes in thought. "Oh. Okay then."

Ino furrowed her eyebrows. "Why did you want to know that?" Shrugging, I returned my attention to my food. "Isn't Uchiha left handed?"

Silence. Chouji's food dropped from his mouth. Shikamaru gave a small, incredulous laugh. "That… that explains so much yet so little at the same time…" Ino, however, was in shock. "Sa… Sasuke-kun… lost to that loser?!"

"I wouldn't say lost, just caught unprepared. I don't think the Uchiha would go down without a fight though." I gave her a small smile, going for a sincere one. "Don't worry, 'kay?"

She blushed beet red. "W-what? What a-are you trying t-to pull… argh! Just shut up."

I looked at her quizzically. "Um… okay." Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. "Why are _you_ not interested in Sasuke?" He asked. Ino turned to him with a red face. "Sh-shikamaru! He can't possibly be-"

"'he'? I'm a girl." I deadpanned. Shikamaru, Chouji and I then proceeded to give her raised eyebrow looks. "You didn't know?" Chouji inquired. The Yamanaka went white. "Y-you're a… a girl?" I nodded. "Yeah. Is it _that_ disturbing?"

She flailed, once more blushing. "N-no! It's just that you're so… I thought… you're… gah! Shut _up!"_ Shikamaru and Chouji exchanged amused looks while I was left to wonder what she was on about. Yes, I was aware that I just looked like a really pretty boy, but why was she so disturbed by it? I mean, didn't Sasuke look like a pretty boy too? The lazy Nara sighed to himself. "Haaa… she's a clueless one, isn't she?" Chouji nodded his head. Shikamaru scoffed. "Well, just like Naruto in that category, I guess."

Looking up at the sun, I noticed the time. "Oi, I think we should go now."


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for following, favoriting and reviewing! I truly** **appreciate it!**

 **In response to my reviewers:**

 _ **Shadow of God:**_ **I wouldn't say power wise. She's still much too weak to come up with a plan to limit what little power she has. No 12 year old in her right mind would want to make herself look weaker than she actually is. No, in fact,** **she keeps herself from showing certain characteristics and quirks she has. Her pecularities have a lot to do with her chakra and heritage. They can draw unwanted attention. She really does not like attention. For Moriko, 'Attention' equals 'something exceptional', which her mother has warned her about many times before. You could say her mother plays a big part in Moriko's world view.**

 _ **nora9gina:**_ **Haha! XD That really wasn't my intention! But hey, interesting pairing! Shikamaru questioning Ino about her relationship with Moriko and the blonde replying with, "Well, she bites in her sleep..." Ahaha!**

 **Alright. Now that those are answered... onwards!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

 _The corners of his mouth lifted up into a smirk. His slitted gold eyes sent shivers down my spine._

" _Hm... you will be number 6."_

* * *

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

" _No."_

"Aw. Why not?" I pouted.

"Because you're incredibly annoying. Piss off." Sasuke growled. I put a hand to my heart, acting hurt. "Oh Uchiha! Why must you wound me so? I thought we were _friends!"_

Sakura didn't look like she could hold it in anymore. "Stop bugging Sasuke-kun! He's got better things to do than play games!" She then batted her lashes at him. "Right, Sasuke-kun?"

A waved an unconcerned hand which Sasuke regarded with distaste. "Haruno-chan, you musn't act so though. It's only a short game of 'find the color'. I know you want to play..." The pinkette looked torn, but she eventually hmphed and turned away. "You're so childish! How did you ever pass the exams?"

I shrugged. "I honestly don't know. They truly must be desperate. Whatever, you two are such bores. I'm gonna read my book, since it's better than watching you people sit and glare at walls." Really now. If I had known that the people in my team would be such tedious people, I would have gone with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

The Uchiha scoffed. "Says the pervert." With just one line, he made Sakura burst intoa fit of praises. 'Sasuke-kun, you're so cool!', 'Sasuke-kun, wow!' and 'Sasuke-kun' this, 'Sasuke-kun' that. It really got on my nerves after a while.

"I want to punch you in the face." I said bluntly. He gave me a glance and smirked. "I'd like to see you try." Thinking over his words, paired with the trademark Uchiha smirk, I gaped. "You... you're enjoying this, aren't you?" His face smoothed itself out into a pokerface again. "What makes you say that?"

Putting a hand over my face, I tried masking my incredulous face. "But you just- you _just..._ you know what. Nevermind."

"Hn."

My attention went to Naruto, who was busy putting an eraser on top of the sliding door. Figures. He had been too silent for too long. _Of course_ he was up to something. Sakura sighed. "Naruto, what are you doing?" I walked over to him and leaned against the wall. "Yeah, I'd like to know that too. Do you think it's a good idea to prank our sensei on the first meeting? He'll hate you for it."

The blonde folded his arms over his chest. "It's his fault for being late!"

I mimicked his stance. "Well, it's your fault for being impatient. Besides, who uses that prank anymore? Why can't you be more original?" He scowled. "The material is limited here so this'll have to do!" The 'for now' was not spoken out loud. Sakura could only sigh in resignation. "It's your own fault if you get in trouble. I won't have anything to do with this!"

Sasuke, from where he was sat, scoffed. "You really think a jounin would fall for that? Idiot."

Aaaaand the pinkette started gushing again. Seriously Sasuke, please shut up so that she won't get a seizure over your 'sexy voice' or whatever it's called. Just take your emo shit somewhere else. Are those _pink hearts_ coming from _Sakura?!_ Oh no, _not_ getting near those. Sakura, please. Sakura, _stop._

"You know what... I'll be right over there if you need me. Good luck with that prank thing, though I don't think he'll fall for that, Naruto-san." Ignoring his pout, I walked up to the chalkboard. Grabbing a chalk from Iruka-sensei's desk, I started drawing whatever the fuck came to my mind. Trees, eyes, cats, motives, random shit like that.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?" I shrugged, not turning around. "Vandalizing the chalkboard. What does it look like?"

He stayed silent for a few minutes. Then, "That cat looks constipated." My hand previously drawing on the board dropped to my side and I gave him a look. "Can _you_ do it any better?" He smirked. "I prefer not to lower myself to your level." Sakura gave a nod of agreement. "That's right! What you're doing isn't cool at all, Moriko!"

Putting the chalk on Iruka-sensei's desk again, I looked them in the eye. "You know what, I don't know when you people decided it would be okay to call me by my name, but it sounds wrong coming from your lips. I would like it if you'd call me Mori from now on."

Sakura recoiled and Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Naruto only pointed a finger to my face. _Rude,_ Naruto. "You're only saying that 'cause your name is so girly! Don't tell us what to do!" Huffing out a small laugh at how Sakura and Sasuke stared at him like he was crazy, I finally decided to enlighten him on it. "Naruto-san... I _am_ a girl."

The bewilderment on his face was totally worth it. "Y-you... You mean..." I nodded. He gaped. "You're a... a _GIRL?!_ But _how?!_ You look so- I mean you look like a- You act like- GAH! It's all because of your flat chest!" What was it with blondes and mistaking me for a guy? Oh right. Because of the flat chest and speaking manner.

Sakura glared at him. "Naruto! Don't joke about that!" I laid a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. Besides, we can use this to our advantage on missions, yeah?" She nodded her head, green eyes in thought. "Yeah... you're right. That's useful."

Before Sasuke even had a chance to call Naruto an idiot for that, the classroom door slid open. Our Sensei got a mouthful of chalkdust dropped onto his head. The silence following after that was almost deafening. Well, until Naruto decided to find it funny. "BWAHAHAHA! HE FELL FOR IT, HE FELL FOR IT!"

I just turned my head and sat on Iruka-sensei's desk, trying to block Naruto's jeering and Sakura's desperate attempts to kiss our new Teacher's ass. This was a disaster. The teacher looked like he was bored out of his mind already. What if he wanted to drop us now?

"How should I say this... My first impression of you guys are..."

We held our breath.

"...I hate you."

...Well. That's his way of saying hi, I guess.

* * *

We were all on the roof, sitting on a random pair of steps. Well, everybody else sat while I contented myself with standing behind Sakura and admiring the place. What kind of fancy ass roof was this? Last time I checked, there weren't supposed to be trees on a roof. It looked just like a huge greenhouse.

Kakashi was leaning against the railing as he spoke. "Okay… why don't we begin with introductions?"

We exchanged glances amongst each other before Sakura asked, "What would you like to know?" He shrugged while answering, "You know, the usual. Your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies, stuff like that."

Naruto butted in at that. "HEY, why don't YOU introduce yourself to us first?!" He _always_ had to yell didn't he? My ears were beginning to get used to it but it still felt like he was bursting my eardrums. Sakura nodded and joined Naruto in her curiosity towards our new teacher. "Yeah, you look suspicious…"

I didn't particularly feel interested in what the teacher considered enjoyable or not. Though, I found it creepy that even _Sasuke_ looked like he wanted to know. What happened to the poker faced boy with emotional issues?

With a hand scratching the back of his head, he began with his very _detailed_ (not) introduction. "Ohh… me? Let's see, my name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you guys about my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future? Hmm… Well, I have lots of hobbies…"

Sakura exasperatedly muttered something along the lines of only learning about his name and both boys gave a nod of agreement. I only shrugged. "Maybe he's shy?" They gave me blank looks. "Okay, okay, geez... just saying."

The white haired man then gestured at us to begin introducing ourselves. "Now it's your turn, from the right."

Naruto began his talk. A long talk about ramen and then becoming hokage to be acknowledged. Frankly, I didn't listen at all when the others introduced themselves. Gauging out other people's reactions while someone talked seemed much more interesting to me. Kakashi's eye looking at Naruto knowingly, Sakura's awe and Naruto's fright when Sasuke confessed his ambition and annoyance on both boys' faces for very different reasons when Sakura 'introduced' herself.

It felt more like a confession of her undying love for Sasuke and stalker abilities than a proper introduction, I tell you.

Kakashi was now resting his one lazy eye on me. "You, the tall one. Your turn." He looked positively as bored as when Sakura had introduced herself.

Now, what was I supposed to tell them? Ah, that's right. "My name is Sawada Moriko. My likes are books, puzzles and swords, I guess. Dislikes... never really thought about it before but blunt kunai get absolutely no shit done. They piss me off with their useless round edges. My hobbies are... classified. My dream is to..." I paused there. I couldn't just go and tell them that my mothere was a whore and I didn't like it. Nope. Not happening. This was a 'meet and greet' kind of thing, not a 'confess-your-personal-problems-to-three-strangers' meeting. "... to get stronger so that I can keep a certain person out of trouble."

Kakashi-sensei never once broke his blank faced facade. "Alright. You all have unique personalities. I like that. We're going to begin a mission, starting tomorrow."

While Naruto enthusiastically bombarded sensei with questions about our mission, I was reminded of my book again. It sat there, in my pocket, and my hand itched like crazy to flip it open and read the juicy contents. However, I had other things to worry about.

"Survival training?! Whhhy?" Heavy disappointment laced those words. Kakashi-sensei began cackling like a mad man when he was asked the 'why' question. Okay, _woah there._ He put on his best scary face which admittedly was doing a great job at intimidation.

"When I tell you this you guys, you're definitely going to flip…"

"Flip? Ha?" Naruto questioned.

"Of the 27 graduates, only 12 will be chosen as genin. Or 9, depending on which teams pass. The rest will be sent back to the academy. This training is a super difficult exam with a failure rate of over 66 precent!"

Conclusion: don't ever ask Kakashi-sensei the 'why' question. He's shit at breaking news to people.

"Haha, told you you'd flip!"

Naruto let out an indignant 'what the hell?!'. Sakura looked mortified and the faint outline of a scowl was visible on Sasuke's usually stoic face. Me? I was frozen in place. When I snapped out of my trance though, "MOTHERFUCKER. HOLY FUCKING HELL ALL THOSE FREAKING MAPS I STUDIED WERE FOR NOTHING?! FUCK YOU GEOGRAPHY!"

Naruto ranted alongside me. "NO FREAKING WAY! I WENT THROUGH THAT ALL TROUBLE FOR _THIS_?! THEN WHAT WAS THE FINAL EXAM FOR?!"

The grey haired man replied with _absolutely no tact whatsoever._ "That? It just picks out those who are qualified to become genin."

The blonde prankster's "WHAAAAAAT?!" and my painful sounding scream of "GRRRRRAAAAAAH!" made a deadly combination, as Sasuke winced, Sakura desperately tried to muffle her ears and Kakashi-sensei sweatdropped. "Anyway... I'm going to determine whether you pass or fail, tomorrow at the training grounds. Bring your ninja equipment and meet me at training ground 7, at 5 AM. And don't eat breakfast. You'll puke."

Then, he poofed away. _Just like that._ I didn't know what kind of bastard our sensei was, but I definitely didn't like the way he treated us. Come on, he looked at us like we weren't worth his time! Groaning, I shoved my hands into my pockets and almost tripped over a sitting Sakura. Looking around, all I could see were my three temmates just sitting around with serious expressions on their faces. What... what were they _doing?_

Then it clicked. Inner monologuing. Yeah, I did those sometimes too, though I never would have guessed it looked _this_ creepy. They were just, like, staring ahead with their expressions changing rapidly. I decided that I did not want to be a part of this. I had blades to sharpen at home anyway.

* * *

"Good morning..." Sakura mumbled with an incredible amount of 'I-want-to-get-the-fuck-to-sleep-again' channeled into her greeting. Naruto only had the energy to get out a "hey..." before collapsing in front of our feet. I was supporting dark circles of my own under my eyes and I couldn't keep my stare off of Sasuke, who didn't look the least bit exhausted. "Dude, what do you _eat_ for breakfast?"

He remained silent, studying the ninjatō sword strapped to my back instead. It had a little bit of rust on the edges and the black fabric of it's hilt was cheap, but it was the best one mom could afford. I loved it. How could I not? Mom had bought it for me with her own money.

Huffing when he didn't answer, I dropped to the ground and stared up at the still dark morning sky. 5 AM in the morning? Why? He wasn't even here yet. I was getting increasingly annoyed by our Sensei's tardiness. Rolling onto my side, I closed my eyes. "Wake me up when he gets here."

Sakura protested. "Eeeeh? You can't sleep now! What if he," her sentence was interrupted by a yawn, "comes now?"

I grunted. "Nah. His fucking fault. Naruto-san, get your leg out of the way. That's my spot." He grumbled but pulled his legs away. Good, because his knee was starting to dig into my side. I closed my eyes... but found that I could not fall asleep. Frustrated, I opened them again. I had to talk, to actually converse so that I had something to focus on. "Guys... did you eat anything?"

Sakura crossed her arms over her chest. "Of course," yawn, "not. Kakashi-sensei clearly stated we _shouldn't_. Don't tell me you forgot?"

I think the low growl my stomach gave was enough of an answer.

The rest of the waiting was spent by me shoving Naruto away every time he rolled too close to me, Sakura yawning every 5 minutes and Sasuke standing there like a motionless statue. Before I knew it, I had drifted off to sleep. However, not long after I had closed my eyes, a foot poked me in the side. Groggily blinking my eyes open, I was met with the blank face of Sasuke. "He arrived."

Wobbling onto my feet, I tried not to fall back onto my bottom with the way Sakura and Naruto were yelling at Kakashi-sensei. Even I couldn't resist the urge to glower at him when he stated his stupid excuse about a black cat being in his way. Walking over to a tree stump, he placed a hand on an alarm clock- wait, when did _that_ get there?

"Let's go, then. The alarm is set for 12 PM. Today's topic is to get one of these bells from me." He emphasised his point by jingling the three bells. My eyes narrowed. Hm... "Whoever can't will get no lunch. I'm going to tie you there and eat lunch right in front of you."

I could feel my soul escaping my body. So that's why he didn't want us to eat breakfast? Because he freaking wanted to torture us? Real smooth. I wanted to murder something. A hungry Moriko coupled with sleep deprivation did not equal something good. The others didn't look that much excited about it either.

Sakura raised her eyebrows. "But wait... why are there only three bells?" Good question. I wanted to know that too. "Yeah. What's the deal with that?" I asked with narrow eyes. Adjusting the ninjatō on my back (it was a nervous habit), I looked closer at my surroundings. A large clearing surrounded by trees of various shades and sizes with a calm river flowing from somewhere near that oak tree. That meant I had plenty opportunities to set traps or hide somewhere to eventually ambush him.

His eye turned up into a crescent, giving off the impression of a smile. "Since there are only three, at least one of you will be tied to the log. That person will fail because he failed to complete the mission..." I kind of drifted off after that, my mind going in a completely different direction. Such as, I really should watch out for that branch over there. It looks unstable.

By the time I was done daydreaming, Kakashi had yelled, "START!"

I was left to stand in the clearing, dumbfounded. "Ah? Eh? What?" The jounin was now regarding me with a deadpan stare. "Not very attentive, are you?" I sheepishly scratched the back of my head. "No… not at all."

"…you're a weird one."

You could actually _hear_ Sakura facepalming and Sasuke thinking 'What a total moron'. Though, I was not the only stupid one.

"The only thing weird is your hair cut!" Naruto proclaimed. He jumped from behind Kakashi, ambushing him with a dozen shadow clones. While the jounin was busy killing Naruto's self-esteem, I made a run for it. No point in engaging combat with a _jounin._ While I was absolutely positive that my taijutsu skills were freaking awesome, I knew my limits. Kakashi-sensei may not look dangerous but he definitely could kill me with his pinky if he wanted to. _That_ was the difference in our power levels.

Still, the idea of fighting him brought a strange sense of excitement to me. I had always liked violence. I loved the feel of adrenaline pumping through my veins, the blood pounding in my ears and the face of my opponents as I didn't hesitate to land the blow. I didn't like wasting time with pointless speeches.

Hiding behind the trees, I could observe their fight without anyone interrupting. Studying their movements and quirks would be useful, since they were going to be my teammates. Naruto was too brash and acted out of instinct rather than planning a strategy. He leaned more on his right foot and strong as he might be, he was slow like a slug. God, didn't this kid ever get speed training? Although, however stupid the blonde prankster may be, his instincts were certainly well developed. He could improvise like a boss and the _shadow clone jutsu?_ I had never heard of _that_ before. It had to be the upgraded version of the clone jutsu.

I found his performance to be pretty good... well, until he got ass-poked. It's... it's called an ass poke, right? Yes, it was a very _powerful_ ass poke to boot. Naruto went flying into the river. " **GYAAAAAAA!** "

He got out of the water again though. That Naruto... he was a persistent bastard, I tell ya. It was fun and all, watching him suffer, but after the whole 'I-punch-him-and-he-turns-out-to-be-a-fucking-clone' ordeal, I quickly went deeper into the undergrowth. Screw Kakashi-sensei's kawarimi. Now I had no idea when and where he would attack me. I had to come up with a plan to attack him _first,_ and fast. I had to get a bell- I wasn't ready for another year in the academy. No way in _hell._

After a long while of setting traps and devising a plan, something tickled on my senses. It felt nauseating, intrusive, and I absolutely knew what those symptoms meant. Making a single seal with my left hand not holding the sword- it really didn't matter which seal- I whispered a quiet "Kai."

Something burst out of the underbush and shaking off the temporary haze that overcame me, I hastily backflipped out of the way. Kakashi-sensei stood to his full height, eyes glued to his orange book and his hand waving a greeting at me. "Yo."

I drew my sword fully out of it's sheath and got into a fighting position. But not before asking, "Is that the second book or the first one?"

He eye-smiled and casually replied, "Special Edition."

A whistle escaped my lips. "Damn." And there we went.

Making several clones, I surrounded Kakashi-sensei on all sides. He didn't look that impressed. Probably because mine were regular bunshin, not one of those fancy, upgraded ones Naruto could use. But I could work with these just fine. My clones ran at him the same time I did. I raised my sword up in the air, ready to strike. Just as he was about to block my sword, I used the replacement technique on one of my other clones and his hand went right through my afterimage. Before he had time to blink, I went right for his arm. A sense of excitement filled me when the blade went right through his appendage-

He went all 'Kawarimi!' on me. Instead of an arm, it was a log my blade was stuck in. He appeared right behind me and before he could send me flying to the side with a back kick, I sliced right through the log, ducking under his assault.

Without any hesitation whatsoever, I went for his neck with a double sword slash. He had discarded his book in favor of blocking my blade with a kunai. His hand trembled slightly with the effort he put into pushing against my force. I, however, didn't stop there. Making several other clones, I slashed and kicked at him, while dodging what little jutsu he threw at me. I had to drive him into a corner first, to the traps I had set for him, so I could snatch one of those bells while he was busy blocking kunai and shuriken.

Just as I was about to send him reeling with a punch to his face- my sword had been thrown out my hands long ago and there was no time to look for it- he rolled to the side. My punch went right through the tree he had been standing in front of just seconds prior. And guess what? My arm got _stuck there._

Just my luck.

He actually had the nerve to _chuckle_ as I desperately tried getting my arm out of the tree trunk. "You've got the strength to punch through it, put not the strength to pull your arm out? How _unsightly._ "

Saying that, he casually pulled out his book again and began walking into the opposite direction. A vein popped on my temple. "WHAT THE HELL?! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?! YOU'RE LEAVING ME _HERE?!_ BITCH, COME BACK!"

* * *

The grey haired jounin's eyes were on his book, but his mind was somewhere else entirely. ' _Hm, she doesn't hesitate while attacking. I would have thought a new genin fresh out of the academy would have troubles regarding killing, but... She had the full intention of hurting me. After a while, her killing intent got the best of her, and she lost focus on her actual goal, going for my throat instead of the bells. We'll have to work on that...'_

His steps faltered as he remembered her stunt with the clones. _'That... she replaced herself with a regular bunshin. She shouldn't have been able to do that. The clone technique enables a person to form an image made of chakra alone, almost like genjutsu. She shouldn't have been able to switch herself with a regular bunshin, since they aren't physically solid, like Naruto's.'_ He shook his head to himself in incredulity. ' _That girl, she switched places with her chakra. How? It's something very similar to Sensei's technique... But he used seals in which his chakra resided to transport himself. His seals didn't vanish. Moriko just switched places with her clone but her chakra which she switched places with dispersed right after she performed Kawarimi. That means her technique is unstable and her range is very short. I don't even think she realises that she's created a whole new technique by combining the clone jutsu with the replacement jutsu.'_

He was than reminded of her punching right through a one meter thick tree, and slightly winced. _'Monstrous strength... and curses like a sailor too. Why am I reminded of a certain someone?'_

* * *

 _Finally,_ after I was able to pull my limb out of the tree trunk with a final wiggle, I examined it with a critical eye. There were some scratches here and there, but the bandages had mostly prevented wood splinters from entering my flesh.

Walking over to my sword, which had been discarded under a dense bush, I sheathed the ninjatō back into it's holder. I would have to buy some salves at the pharmacy, wouldn't I? Wait, that wasn't the problem here. How could I let Kakashi-sensei get away? More importantly, why the hell did I have to forget my objective in the middle of a fight?!

But... but the _adrenaline..._

No! Don't you dare lie to yourself, Moriko! I _really_ had to work on that concentration problem. Before that though, I had to find Kakashi-sensei and demand a rematch. I had lost enough time as it was. That's when a loud scream echoed throughout the forest. I immediately whirled around to the direction the sound came from. Wasn't that... Sakura? What the hell happened _this_ time?

Running, I burst through the underbush, only to see a- a... ah.

Sasuke's head was still intact, though I wasn't sure where his body went. Sakura lay unconscious on the ground, legs wide open. I wasn't really sure what to make of all this, so I did the next best thing.

Plucking a flower from somewhere in the clearing and putting it beside the scowling Sasuke's head, I kneeled and put my hand together in a prayer. "Dear Kami, despite his pricky attitude and weird hairstyle, please let him rest in peace-"

"I'M NOT DEAD YET YOU IDIOT!"

* * *

10 minutes later, I was sitting in between a tied up Naruto and a very nervous looking Sakura. Sasuke kept shooting me glares for some unknown reason... okay, well, I _did_ ditch him when a panicky Sakura woke up. I think he got pissed because I didn't really bother with helping him get the pinkette off of him. But hey, to each his own, right?

Meanwhile, Kakashi-sensei stood in front of us with the same blank expression as always. "You guys look really hungry. By the way, something about the training... Well, there's no need for you guys to go back to the academy."

Naruto and Sakura's cheering became background noise as I contemplated his words. I always did that- ninjas tended to be vague, so you had to fill in the gaps of their sentences yourself if you didn't want your hopes to be crushed. Kakashi-sensei... he didn't say he would take us on as students, though... But whether I wanted or not, hope bloomed within me.

"All four of you... should quit as ninjas."

Fucking _called it._


	5. Chapter 5

***Cries rainbow tears while unicorns dance in the background* Thank you for following, favoriting and reviewing! Seriously, you guys make me cry happy tears of joy.**

 **In response to my reviewers:**

 _ **Apocalypsebutterfly:**_ **Actually, that would be pretty interesting. Their personalities are similar, so they'd either love or hate each other :D**

 _ **Shadow of God:**_ **I'm so glad you like her characterization. When I first came up with Moriko, I was planning on giving her the 'silent genius' type of character. I scratched out that idea though, since I didn't plan on making her mentally 20+ years old (And there were too many of _those_ around: Sasuke, Neji, Gaara, Kakashi, Itachi- yep. Too many socially awkward geniuses here). A sensible yet airheaded girl it was. I'll try my best at character development!**

 **Now, off to reading we go. This chapter feels a bit clumsy...**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

 _It was the agonizing pain of being sliced open alive._

" _Let's see what makes you so special…"_

* * *

"QUIT AS NINJAS?! WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?!" Naruto's incredulous yell was heard throughout the whole forest. Sakura was frozen in place and Sasuke looked like a ticking time bomb, ready to explode anytime.

"Because all of you… are just punks who don't deserve to be ninjas."

Well, that was just _it._ I abruptly stood up, each word I spat out overflowing with Killing Intent. " **Look here, you stupid bastard. I don't know what the hell your problem is, nor do I want to know, but don't you dare give us that bullshit. YOU REALLY THINK WE COULD GET THOSE BELLS?! EVEN TEAMING UP WOULDN'T HAVE MADE MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE BECAUSE YOU ARE A** _ **MOTHERFUCKING**_ **JOUNIN! WHAT DID YOU EXPECT OF US, HUH?!"**

My heavy breathing was the only thing heard amongst the shocked silence. Taking a deep, shaky breath, I lowered my bottom onto the ground again and massaged my temples calmingly. Sakura looked like she was going to faint, Naruto was literally foaming from the mouth and Sasuke was trembling all over. Kakashi-sensei was looking at me wide eyed. He then blinked and cleared his throat, eyeing me cautiously. "The answer was Teamwork."

Our heads snapped up. He continued his speech, with a solemn face. "The three of you working together… _may_ have gotten the bells."

Sakura, apparently recovered from whatever got into her, protested. "What do you mean by 'teamwork'? There are only two bells! Even if we worked together and got the bells, we would still have to fight each other for them!"

The jounin gave her an unimpressed look. "Of course. This test is purposely set up to make you fight amongst yourselves. The purpose is to see whether you can forget about your own interests and successfully work together under these designed circumstances."

I sneered. "I call bullshit. That's not something you should test us on the first day, Sensei. Teamwork is built on trust and we don't have that right now. Trust develops over _time,_ not over a small bell test. We haven't gotten used to each other yet because we were just _forced_ together. If you want a team which can get teamwork done on the first try, than you'll have to speak with Hokage-sama. _He_ decides the teams and this team just so happens to be filled with opposites."

His eyes steeled. "That might be true, but teamwork is important. Sakura, instead of helping Naruto who was right next to you, you went after Sasuke, who was far away. Naruto, you were just running around aimlessly. Sasuke, you just assumed the others would get in your way and tried to do everything by yourself. And _you…"_ He fixated his stare on me. "… you didn't even _attempt_ to interact with your other teammates,as if they didn't even exist. Superior individual ability is very important, but so is teamwork. Sometimes, individual play can disrupt the team and put your comrades in danger. For example…"

He suddenly appeared behind Sasuke, holding a kunai to his neck. "Sakura! Kill Naruto, or Sasuke dies! Moriko, if you don't help me, I'll kill both of them, right after slicing Sasuke's neck."

The other two let out startled 'What!'s while I instantly slid into a fighting stance. Killing? None of _my_ comrades were getting killed on my watch. He disappeared in a poof and appeared in front of us again. I let my muscles relax. The other three let out relieved sighs. "You see? If a hostage is taken, you will have tough choices and then die. You will be risking your life in these duties."

He then walked over to the memorial stone, tracing his hand on one of the names. "… Look at this. The numerous names carved on this stone. These are ninjas who are recognized as heroes of the village."

Naruto's ear twitched and a grin spread across his face. I immediately realised what he was going to do, and grabbed him by the ear. He let out a startled 'ow!' before opening his mouth in protest. "Hey! What are you-" "Chill, Naruto. They're all KIA. There are heroes who were Killed In Action on that stone."

The blonde's idiotic grin turned into a somber expression real quick. "Oh."

Sakura and Sasuke both looked very uncomfortable now. Kakashi-sensei gave a slow nod. "Yes. This is a memorial… my best friend's name is also carved here."

There was an awkward silence as the four of us processed his words. I thought about sweet Nori and her bloody hand holding mine, begging me to stay as the life seeped out of her eyes- no. _No._ Bad thoughts. Very bad thoughts. Taking a shaky breath, I spoke. "Sensei. It is your duty as our team leader, to make sure we are well taught in the ninja arts. _You_ can prevent that from happening to us. You can't expect us to know the answer to that test on the first try. Please, I request you to give us a second chance."

Naruto piped up. "Yes! I agree! We'll do better this time, Kakashi-sensei!"

"Yeah!" Sakura nodded.

Sasuke smirked and gave a 'hn' of approval. The jounin's eye narrowed. My eyes narrowed. That continued for a while where Naruto tried interrupting our staring contest and Sakura slapped a hand over his mouth. I didn't break off my stare even once as I said, "Or… are you just looking for an excuse to get rid of us?"

His one eye widened imperceptibly and he quickly glanced at Naruto before returning his stare to mine. I pursed my lips and steeled my resolve. He closed his eyes, effectively ending our unspoken contest. "Very well. I will give you a second chance. But after lunch I'll make it a lot tougher to get the bells. Those who still wish to challenge me can eat lunch, but don't give any to Naruto."

"Huh?"

"It's punishment for trying to eat by yourself. If anyone gives him any food, they will fail immediately. I am the rules here… got it?" He then poofed away, leaving us to deal with a tied up Naruto.

The blonde was laughing like an idiot, rambling about how he was fine and all. "HAH! I don't need any food! I am _totally_ okay, even if I don't eat!" The loud grumbling of his stomach pretty much denied that statement though. After a few more times of his _annoying as hell_ stomach groans, I shoved a riceballs into his mouth. He almost choked. "For fuck's sake, just _eat it_ Naruto. If I hear that sound _one more fucking time_ I am going to dump you in a river."

Sasuke and Sakura were staring at me like I had committed a murder (which I quiet possibly would, if the blonde moron didn't silence his stomach). Naruto though, his eyes welled up with tears. "Y-you… you're just shy, aren't you?! You're actually really nice inside-!" "Okaaaay, just shut up and eat."

Sakura panicked. "B-but sensei said-"

"I don't sense him near here." Unexpectedly, it was Sasuke who spoke up. "We'll work together after lunch and get the bells. Without food, he'll just be in the way anyway."

I stared at him like I had seen a ghost, before a grin started taking over my face. "Awww, look Sakura? He behaves all tough and stuff but he actually is a big softie-" My airway was cut off by the raven boy locking me in a chokehold. A vein popped on his temple as he glared down at me. "I don't want to be told that by _you!"_

Sakura, after a while of contemplating (and staring at a steadily turning blue Moriko), finally made her decision. She offered Naruto her lunch, making him go cross-eyed with happiness. "Thanks…"

She smiled. "You don't need to thank me! Just eat, hurry! I-I'm on a diet- I mean, I eat less than Sasuke-kun and Morik- um, Mori-san anyway…" Both I and Sasuke raised an eyebrow when Naruto sheepishly tried telling Sakura that his hands were tied. The Uchiha had _thankfully_ loosened his hold on my neck. If there was someplace I was weak at, then it was my neck. That's why I usually had my forehead protecter wound around there- because it felt safer that way.

I laid a hand on Sakura's shoulder and sighed. "Just do it, Sakura. At any rate, I don't think he'll get the same opportunity twice." She grumbled but complied with my wish. Naruto looked on cloud 9 then and there. Sasuke scoffed. "And hurry. We don't know when he's going to return."

The pinkette's brow was twitching like crazy. She must feel very betrayed by her crush right now. "Listen here. I'm only going to do this once. You understand?!" Aw, she was blushing. How cute. The Haruno shot me a glare when I couldn't control my snickers. "Pft, s-sorry… continue what you were doing, you two love birds."

Naruto went back into cloud 9 mode while Sakura raised a fist, ready to give me a punch on the head for that one. Before she could though, Sensei appeared before us in a cloud of smoke. Sakura shrieked, Naruto let out a startled 'WHAAA?!' and Sasuke's eyes widened in alarm. Me? I was left speechless. "YOU GUYS!"

We anxiously awaited our doom.

"You broke the rule…"

I swear I could hear thunderclouds gathering and lightning striking upon us. "Any last words?"

Was he using _Killing Intent?_ Hah… got nothing on me. But apparently it was strong enough to make Sakura shiver in sheer terror, Naruto to look like he swallowed something really bad and Sasuke to go into a fighting stance. I gritted my teeth. Guess I would have to wing it. "BUT YOU SAID TEAMWORK WAS NECESSARY! DIRTY LIAR!"

Naruto got the hang of it pretty quick. "YEAH! YOU SAID- Y-YOU SAID THAT-!"

"We're a four man team, right?" Thank god, Sasuke just saved the blonde prankster from digging a hole for himself. He also managed to break Sakura from her trance. "That's right! We four are united as one!"

That one was _cheesy as hell_ but I'll let it slide just this once.

The grey haired man regarded us with a grave expression, as if trying to dig holes through our skulls. Or undress us with his eyes- whatever he wanted to do. Bitch, you're no hyūga, stop that squinting thingy. Seriously, you look really weird doing that with one eye. Stop it. _Stahp._

" _YOU…_ pass ~!" He eye-smiled at us.

My brain stopped working.

What.

What?

I just…

 _What?_

... Done. That's what I was. Totally done. _The fucker_ _ **dared**_ _to eye-smile at us after making us shit our pants?_ "ARE YOU _FUCKING_ KIDDING ME?!" I hollered. Everyone else seemed to have the same thought too. "Pass? But why?" Sakura asked in a more ladylike manner.

He chuckled. That bastard _dared_ to chuckle. It was only thanks to Sasuke's tight grip around my torso and Sakura's arms around my neck that he was still alive. "You guys are the first ones. Everyone else would just do whatever I told them. They were all just morons…. A ninja must see underneath the underneath. Those who break the rules and codes of the ninja world are called trash… but those who don't take care of their comrades are lower than trash."

Well… even I had to admit he looked _a little_ cool saying that. Just a small bit. Sakura retracted her arms from around my neck in favor of fist bumping the air and Sasuke shoved his hands back into his pockets soon enough. A slow grin was spreading across my face and it wouldn't go away. Hell yeah! Wait till I tell Nori and Tobio about this! Nori had been bugging me about the team placements since the explanatory meeting anyway. She _really_ didn't like me being in Sasuke's team. 'He'll corrupt you!', she had said. Oh Nori… If there is someone corrupting somebody, it'd be most likely _me_ who'd corrupt _them_.

Kakashi-sensei gave us a thumbs up. "That ends the training. All of you pass! Starting tomorrow, team 7 will begin it's duties!"

All four of us cheered- well, grunted, in Sasuke's case- and I put an arm around both Sasuke and Sakura's shoulders. I didn't even care at that point about Sasuke's 'No-Touchy' rule or Sakura's loud shrieks rivaling those of Naruto. They didn't seem to mind it, as Sakura was smiling triumphantly and Sasuke was smirking in satisfaction. I was grinning like a madman, pulling the pinkette girl and raven boy closer. "Hell yeah! To infinity and beyond!"

Sakura laughed. "Yeah!"

And as we walked towards the beautiful sunset together…

"UNTIE THE FREAKING ROOOOPE!"

* * *

Iruka choked on his spit, appalled. The hokage sitting next to him chuckled as the young teacher tried gathering his bearings. "Th-that Moriko… I had heard from her previous teacher that she was a nasty one but this? How disrespectful! You don't say that to your sensei!"

The hokage stayed silent and his gaze focused on the slight widening of Kakashi's eye. He took a deep breath from his pipe and contemplated the importance of the genin's words while Iruka ranted in the background. "'An excuse to get rid of us', huh…?" he smiled sadly. "She might have hit the jackpot with that one…"

The brunette teacher next to him froze. "What? You mean he…"

The hokage nodded his head wisely, his hat covering most of his face. "Yes… Kakashi most likely wouldn't have given them a second chance were it not for Naruto being on his team."

Iruka pursed his lips. "Then… why have you put Naruto on his team with the full knowledge that it would hurt Kakashi-senpai? That he would struggle with looking Naruto directly in the eyes?"

The sandaime sighed tiredly. Weary from all the fighting, betrayal and loss. "He needs to let go of the past. Naruto will help with that perfectly." His eyes hardened. "…besides, there is a reason why I have given Kakashi those four."

That's where he lost the brunette. "Wh-what? Those four… I thought it was only because of Naruto and Sasuke that you put Kakashi-senpai as their team leader? After all, Sasuke's mental state isn't exactly in a healthy stage and Naruto is…" he trailed off, not knowing if he was allowed to say it out loud.

Hiruzen shook his head. "No… it's not just because of those two. You had reported to me that Tobio-kun and Moriko-chan would make a good team together, correct?"

Iruka nodded, tilting his head slightly in confusion. "Yes. They know each other very well and they spar together regularly. Working as a team in the infiltration and interrogation division would be very easy for them. I still do not understand why you have instead opted on seperating those two. I am aware that we couldn't find a third member for their team, but we could have taken someone from the genin corps."

The hokage hmmed, acknowledging his view. "That would have certainly made sense, Iruka. But you also know about Moriko-chan's insufficient background information, right?"

That's when the atmosphere in the room became cold. "Yes, hokage-sama."

The old man took another breath from his pipe and exhaled the smoke. His eyes became steel. "Her father... we still do not know if he had any connections to Orochimaru. In his files, it was only stated that he came from Kirigakure. Nothing more than his age, name and gender were listed. Her mother has already been questioned about this matter, and she has confirmed that there was _something_ going on between her lover and an unknown source." Iruka carefully did not ask what he meant with 'questioned'. Hiruzen continued. " Kakashi, as a former ANBU captain, will make sure that Moriko is loyal to Konoha. Her abnormal levels of Killing Intent have been noted and the things her father has messed with might catch up to her. We couldn't find out nearly as much as we wanted from the autopsy made on his corpse. All we know is that her father may have been a spy and her mother knows as little on the matter as we do. Until she is cleared from suspicion and for her own safety, we'll have to keep her in Kakashi's team."

Iruka looked down in thought. "I see… so that's why… but. Why choose Kakashi of all people? There are many ex-ANBU's who could have taken Moriko into their team."

He put his chin on his interlaced fingers. "No. They are needed for the upcoming chūnin exams. Since Kakashi was the best choice for Naruto and Sasuke-kun, and since we couldn't find a suitable candidate to be put in the same group as Tobio-kun and Moriko-chan, we had to change things this year. Kakashi cannot be a proctor in the Chūnin exams because he'll be busy giving me reports on Naruto, Sasuke-kun and Moriko-chan. Sakura-chan… she is smart enough to sense danger. I trust that she will keep them all together."

The chūnin sensei could not believe it. To think that a single girl could make such a difference in the system… it was ridiculous. But he also undertsood where Hokage-sama was coming from. The first time he had seen a picture of Moriko's father, he had felt shivers go up his spine. Sharp black-brown eyes, spiky brown hair, sharp teeth and tanned skin. He had looked predatory, hypnotizing, like he was _so sure_ he could slice your neck with a single swipe. But most of all, he had looked like hadn't quite belonged. Something _dark_ and _unnatural_ was squirming in the depth of his dark eyes, kept under lock and trying to break free. To think such a man had connections with Orochimaru of all people...

He shivered.

Even if he was dead, Iruka did not feel safe from this man. And he would _absolutely not_ allow one of his students to become a monster like- like this _thing._ Those enticing, tempting, _dead_ eyes, luring you in with the promise of death…

He would not allow Moriko to have them.

But he had to trust Kakashi-senpai on this matter.

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU FAILED?!"

Tobio, sitting across from me and Nori, lowered his eyes to his lap. We were currently in the restaurant Nori's parents were operating. It was a sweets shop with the name 'Okashi'. The title wasn't very original but… the sweets were _phenomenal._ Nori's parents _really_ knew how to cook. Plus, they had barbecue here. Absolute _heaven._

But that wasn't the main issue here. I crossed my arms, glowering as he fidgeted with his fingers. "Details. _Now._ "

Nori laid a calming hand on my shoulder. "Mori-chan… calm down. He couldn't help it…" I huffed, not placated by her answer. "Nori. You can't expect me to sit around and do nothing! He should have at least asked for a second chance! How do you think _we_ managed to pass? By sitting around on our asses and whine about how Sensei could be such a meanie?!"

Tobio started at that. "Hey! We did _no_ such thing!" He then quietly murmured, "…well, some of us didn't…"

I slapped a hand over my face and groaned in frustration. Even Nori looked unimpressed. He immediately flushed. "B-but how were we supposed to know that the scrolls were illusions in the first place?!"

I sank deeper into my seat, overwhelmed with exasperation towards my friend. "You… what kind of excuse is that…? I _specifically_ taught you how to dispel genjutsu. _Me._ The _master genjutsu dispeller."_

Nori sweat dropped. "Um, Mori-chan, is that even a thing-" " _Silence."_ "Yes ma'am…"

Tobio's face was so red that I was afraid he would go up in flames. But hey, serves him right. Embarrassing him in front of his crush? Totally deserved it, if you ask me. Come on, _I_ was the one teaching him! "You're such a disappointment Tobio… why can't you take my teachings seriously? What a bad students you are… I thought you were good at genjutsu but…"

He frowned, face still red. "Says you! You can't even make the simplest of genjutsu! I know for a fact that you failed _epically_ in that specific category. Were it not for your skill in detecting one, you'd be thrown out of the academy a long time ago! Besides, the technique you use only works with _your_ chakra, so that means you practically taught me nothing!"

Wow Tobio. _Wow._ You ungrateful asshole. "Wha- you _dare_ call me a crappy teacher?! That's it boy, we're taking this outside-"

…Yeah. That's how we pretty much spent the rest of the afternoon beating the shit out of each other. At least the customers in Okashi enjoyed themselves. Nori refused to talk to the two of us, which made my pineapple headed friend deflate. At least now we knew that Tobio had been requested to join the genin corps by his teacher. Apparently, he had potential… or something.

I still laughed in his face when he told me how he accidentally boob-grabbed his female teammate.

* * *

 **A/N: Mysterious father? Yessss. Let's keep in mind that Moriko's father isn't listed as a ninja and neither as a civilian, so nobody really knows _what_ he is and who he is involved with. For all they know, he could be one of Orochimaru's past bodies. He is considered dangerous because he could hide his identity for so long without anybody finding out. Trust me, that takes an incredible amount of skill and connections. It's hard being a nobody. Come to think of it, he should have died somewhere in between that... oh wait. He did. Just not soon enough. **

**Moriko, his daughter, is also considered suspicious since... well. There are many cases of 'like father, like daughter' so I doubt they would risk anything. Moriko, since she sucks at sensing chakra, probably didn't catch any of them stalking her. Man, ANBU can be pretty sneaky if they want to. Of course, her mother is also watched over. But she isn't a ninja so it's probably easy keeping an eye on her. Also, if Moriko's ANBU guard had considered her a danger to society, they wouldn't have let her pass the genin exams. Just thought you should know that...**


	6. Chapter 6

**Exam month+ Writer's block= A remarkable amount of time needed for updating.**

 **I'm sorry. Please don't kill me. School is being a bitch again. But, hey, double update! I don't know if I'll be able to post in time so I'm giving y'all an extra chapter.**

 ** _Shadow of God:_ Hmmm... I think I already have someone for wire manipulation. Though, it certainly sounds cool... I'll have to see if it fits Moriko's style.**

 _ **nora9gina:**_ **I'm happy that you find me funny XD I try hard. And poor Moriko indeed. Team 7 isn't a moderate bunch at all. When it comes to Nori and Tobio... well, actually, I don't like OC's that much either. Somehow, I always end up forgetting their names or mixing them up with some other character. But they're kind of necessary because Moriko is normal, and normal people have at least a couple of friends, right? Also, Tobio's actually canon. Nori is the only OC. He is literally called the 'god of SasuNaru' because he elbowed Naruto in the rear. Seriously, look it up and the first picture you get is Trollbio. Originally, I hadn't planned on him appearing anywhere in my story but... why the hell not?**

 **So now... to the story!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

 _Bloodcurdling screams echoed through the hallways._

 _I tried blocking them out. I really did-_

" _ **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! HELPHELP HELP-"**_

 _\- But in the end, it was impossible._

 _The nightmarish wails of my former cellmate reveberated in the cold, damp chamber I resided in._

* * *

Two weeks. _Two. Whole. Fucking. Weeks._

And this had been the _eleventh_ babysitting mission we had done yet.

"Naruto… you have glitter in your hair." I mumbled, as I rubbed my left shoulder in calm motions. That brat had bitten my _shoulder-_ my _shoulder,_ you hear?! Why my _shoulder_ of all places?! Not that I was complaining toomuch. It could have been much worse, but _fuck_ did _that_ kid have teeth.

One would have thought we'd be professionals at babysitting by now. Guess what? Nope. Every little snot was as annoying as the one before.

Naruto furiously rubbed at his hair, trying to get out the small particals of sparkling powder. When he realised that it didn't help, he turned to me with a defeated expression. "Uh… at least… what colour is it?"

I internally debated if I should tell him or not. If I told him, he'd throw a temper tantrum and promptly claim that it was all Sasuke's fault. Thus, a fight would ensue. However, if I _didn't_ tell him, he'd find out one way or another. He'd blame Sasuke again and boom, another argument.

Well, the outcome would be the same anyway. Plus, I was too lazy to prevent another argument, soooo…

"… Rainbow."

Aaaaand, he lost it.

"SASUKE-TEME! I TOLD YOU THAT THE DAMN BRAT WAS UP TO SOMETHING! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

How was I not suprised?

Sasuke scowled. "How is that my fault? You were the one who got bested by a four year old, idiot."

Sakura sweat dropped, having second thoughts about being on the same team as her precious Sasuke-kun. "Guys… let's not fight…"

As always, they didn't listen.

"YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE, DIDN'T YOU?! YOU KNEW THE LITTLE PUNK WOULD DO SOMETHING BUT YOU DIDN'T TELL ME, JUST TO GET A KICK OUT OF IT!" Naruto yelled at the top his lungs. Seriously, from the short two weeks I had gotten to know him, I had deduced that he had one _hell_ of a loud voice.

The Uchiha was losing his patience- and quick. "Any idiot with half a brain would see that obvious prank coming. I guess it's just you, dobe."

Naruto's face was getting redder with every passing second. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to tell him? "HAH! THAT'S COMING FROM THE GUY WHO FELL FOR THE CLASSIC 'TRIP AND SLIP' TRICK!"

Sasuke grew a vein. "Well, maybe if a _certain someone_ hadn't spilled apple juice all over the carpet, I wouldn't have to go to the kitchen in the first place!"

"OH, SO NOW IT'S _MY_ FAULT?!"

Where was Kakashi-sensei when you needed him? Oh, right. Delivering the mission report and most likely avoiding us. He did that a lot.

While the two continued their pointless bickering, I leaned over to Sakura. "…Should we leave?"

She sighed, defeated. "Why not?"

Of course, I didn't forget to take a long, hard look at Naruto's ridiculous getup before leaving. Rainbow glitter paired with his bright yellow hair and neon orange jumpsuit? _Definitely_ something I would never let him forget.

It wasn't hard sneaking away. They were so absorbed in proving their points to each other that they totally forgot about us. Walking through the crowded streets with a depressed Sakura, I secretly thought about what my life had come to. Since when had I gotten used to the weird creatures I called my teammates? They still were annoying at times, yes. Wait, scratch that. They were annoying _all the time._ But they knew how to respect one's privacy, so I got that going for me, which was nice.

Crossing my arms behind my head, I gave a carefree laugh. "Well, we should leave them alone for a little while. So that they can solve the unspoken sexual tension between each other, ne?"

(Somewhere far away, both Naruto and Sasuke shivered.

"I don't know why, but I felt a very strong wave of disgust just now, 'ttebayo." Naruto said, hugging himself protectively.

"Sh-shut up, dobe. You're not the only one." Sasuke replied, blue in the face.)

"EW! MORI, THAT'S DISGUSTING!" The pinkette shouted as she smacked me upside the head with her weapons pouch. I winced, gingerly touching the place she had hit. I could already feel the bump forming. "Ow, that hurts, Haruno-chan!"

"How many times do I have to tell you? Call me _Sakura_ -chan! That way it won't be as confusing. It feels like you're adressing my mother!" She growled.

"Geez, alright… Sakura-chan." Looking at her disgruntled expression, I remembered something. "Ah! That's right- how come your family didn't invite us over to dinner yet?"

She blinked, taken aback. "Uh… eh?"

Sometimes, even _I_ marvelled at how fast I could change topics. I gulped, sincerely hoping this matter was nothing sensitive. "You know, I always hear from mom's co-workers how it's such a pain to have their kids' genin teams over. Not that I'd want to give any trouble to your family, but… I would've expected your mother to request something like that. I mean, I do understand that they're busy, being tradespeople and all. But I've seen your mother pick you up from the academy on many ocassions. She looked really outgoing and overall friendly. I don't know, I guess I just expected _something_ …"

I trailed off, not knowing what else to say. It felt like I was treading on dangerous territory, but I had been curious about this for a while now. Sakura didn't have a dysfunctional (or dead) family like… well. Like everybody in our team had, actually. Seriously, we were the walking epitome of 'angst-ridden teenagers with lonely pasts who have family issues'.

Frankly, I would have liked mom to host such a dinner. While I wasn't a big fan of socializing, I wanted mom to meet them- because I knew that she worried for me most of the time. To make sure that she would feel reassured with the idea of other people other than Nori and Tobio protecting my back. Alas, she didn't have any time for these things. Also, she hadn't looked very happy when I had told her about my teammates either. Something about 'kyūbi brat' and 'Uchiha boy'.

Sakura paled, obviously looking uncomfortable. So there was _something_ after all. After a while of silence, I sighed. "Just… forget it. Forget I said that. You don't have to-"

"Mom." She unexpectedly cut me off. Her fists were clenched tightly and she was biting her lip furiously. It looked like she was debating on whether she should tell me or not. I was all ears, not intending to miss anything.

Finally, she seemed to have come to a decision. "Can we… talk somewhere more private?"

In the end, we found ourselves in my apartment. Well, me and my mother's, but that hardly mattered right now. Sitting across Sakura on my favourite loveseat (which mom _probably_ hadn't washed after 'using' it- wait. _**EW.**_ ), I made myself comfortable. The pinkette seemed to be both disgusted and intrigued by how much of a dump our place was. I scratched my cheek, feeling embarrassed all of a sudden. "Sorry if it's such a mess here… I would have liked to offer you some tea, but we currently don't have any, so…"

She snapped out of her trance. "No! I mean, I understand! You, er… yeah."

Silence.

 _Awkward._

I cleared my throat. "So. Spill."

Sakura took a deep breath. Wow, this matter must be pretty vexing for her. I had never seen her this upset before. "Mom… She- she doesn't like you. N-not you in general, but… she doesn't like anybody in my team. With the exception of Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke-kun, that is. I… I- I think it's just you and Naruto."

I blinked. What?

The pinkette nervously fiddled with the tips of her pink hair. "Naruto is very infamous for his pranks. Nobody likes him, because he's always rude and brash. He's also an idiot, on top of being inconsiderate of people's feelings! 'Sakura-chan' this, 'Sakura-chan' that- he's making fun of me! It pisses me off!"

I sweat dropped. Didn't she do the _exact same_ to Sasuke? Despite us being of the same species (female), I had a hard time understanding girls. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to know what was going through their minds.

"A-anyway. Aside from that, I don't consider him the bad guy. Just a really stupid moron who doesn't have any other hobbies aside from pranking innocent people. But mom doesn't like him… neither does Dad. They've never said it outright into my face but… I can see them worrying. They don't like him. They become uneasy and distrustful and I don't like it. Dad always tries to make a joke out of it. Mom tells me it's nothing. Just- I think there's more to it than just Naruto's idiocy. Because my parents are usually not like that."

Sakura gulped, eyeing me with a serious face. "And… it's not just him. You, they don't like _you_ either."

My eyebrows furrowed. " What…."

Fidgeting with her fingers, she averted her eyes. "Your mother- she- th-there are rumors… well… about your… uhm, mother's… job."

My face smoothed itself out into a blank stare. "… _Oh._ "

 _Now_ I knew why any of my teammates hadn't asked me anything about my private life. It had been pretty obvious, huh? At least they had tact.

Leaning back in my seat, I raked a hand through my hair. This was all so tiring- I wanted to lay down and sleep forever until my time for being useful had come. Alas, I couldn't do that. I had priorities right now. "Y'know, Sakura-chan, I don't really care about what people might think of me and my mother. You don't have to worry about that."

Her head snapped up, surprise and shock written all over her face. "What?! Mori, shouldn't you be more offended?! For- for Kami's _sake,_ they think your mother's a s-"

" **I know!"** I interrupted, glaring at her direction. She immediately sat her ass back down, making sure not to make any sudden movements. Calming myself down, I studied her sullen face. "Sakura. I know that you don't like any of this- but I can't force my opinions down everyone's throats. This has been happening since quiet a while. I'm used to it, and so is mom. I admit, there are times when I want to punch such people in the face, but that would only further solidify my image of being an uncivilized heathen whose father we'll probably never know. When it comes to Naruto… I have no idea what problem they have with him."

Sakura heaved a forlorn sigh, slumping in her seat like jelly. This must have been tiring for her- after all, I knew from experience that confessing some things weren't that easy. Also, she had basically confessed everything to a stranger just now. Two weeks weren't enough to get to know a person. She must be a really trusting girl.

Somehow, I admired that. It wasn't that easy to trust people. Kami knows how much _I_ suck at trusting people.

"I'm glad you talked to me about this. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one worrying." I said, smiling slightly. Sakura looked at me quizzically. "Worrying? You too?"

Playing with a stray strand of my hair, I shrugged. "Your parents aren't the only ones disapproving of our team. I'm sure your parents aren't bad people. Neither is _my_ mom. But everyone has preconceptions and it gets pretty hard to convince them otherwise."

The pinkette was in thought. "…huh. What… what is your mother feeling so upset about? I-if I may ask, I mean…"

I laughed, waving a careless hand at her. "Don't worry, I'm not _that_ sensitive. Well, how to say this… mom doesn't like Naruto either. Though, unlike your parents, she doesn't try hiding her distaste of him. I had never really thought much of it, since everybody seemed to hate him. It wouldn't be a surprise if she hated him too. Hell, I hadn't even known _who_ that guy was until I joined the academy. I had much more important things to do than listening to rumors. But now, I'm starting to doubt the gossip. I mean, he's just an _idiot._ There are plenty of idiots in our village. Why is he the only one getting harassed? I just don't get it."

She nodded her head in agreement. "Yes yes, I see what you're trying to say. But… what about Sasuke-kun and Kakashi-sensei? I don't know how she could have a problem with them."

I groaned, blowing a bang out of my face. "That's where it gets complicated. You know of the… Uchiha massacre a few years ago, right?"

The haruno cringed. "Y…yeah. Right. That…"

I continued. "Mom doesn't want me to get involved with the Uchiha. She thinks he's nothing but trouble. And since that criminal brother of his is still roaming around… well. I think she has a right to be scared."

Sakura looked down, squeezing her hands as if trying to reassure herself. "Oh. I… I remember now."

My eyes narrowed at her. Was that… no. It couldn't be. What would she feel guilty for anyway? "Yes. Long story short, mom doesn't trust him. Her opinion of the Uchiha clan in whole is that they are selfish, narcissistic and unholy assholes who have nothing better to do than mindfuck people with their fancy pinwheel eyes."

I could say with confidence that Sasuke was not like that. Except the 'asshole' part. He was a jerk, alright.

Crossing my arms, I mentally prepared myself to inform my pink haired teammate of the most disturbing information of all. Even _I_ had a hard time believing this- it was absurd. The first time I ever heard of it, I felt like I would die from laughing so much. Yes, it was _that_ unnerving. "When it comes to Kakashi-sensei…" I hesitated. How would she take it? "…Did you know… that he was once called Friend-Killer Kakashi?"

Yep. She did _not_ see that one coming. Neither had I.

Her jaw dropped to the floor. Her green eyes went as wide as saucers. "HE'S- H-HE'S- SAY _WHAT_ NOW _?!_ "

I waited until she stopped hyperventilating and mumbling about how she planned on arranging her funeral. I had had a similar reaction- well, without screaming bloody murder and more like laughing maniacally while being dangerously close to stabbing someone with a fork. Mom should not have said those news at dinner.

Naturally, it had been shocking news. Our _sensei,_ the one who the Hokage had trusted us with, was capable of killing off his very own comrades. That's what his nickname conveyed to me anyway. Mom told me how the Hokage had come to visit her, along with Kakashi-sensei. She knew what had happened with sensei's genin squad- not all the details, but according to the rumors, he had had quiet the reputation in the third great ninja war. _Never_ underestimate the intelligence gathering of a harlot. They may not be the strongest but _damn_ can they be sneaky.

Not many people who still called him by that name blamed him for what happened to his team- but they _did_ have doubts when it came to his reliability.

When I asked her why they had come to her in the first place, she had answered with a curt, "They wanted my approval of the teams. I agreed to it." However, the nervous glint in her eye had told me that something other than my team had been discussed. I hadn't felt the need to pry though. I had been too sleep deprived to even start another conversation.

Standing up, I dusted myself off. "You know what? I have an idea. How about we meet at training ground 7 tomorrow, at 1PM? With the whole team, I mean. Minus Kakashi-sensei."

Sakura looked at me questioningly and a little bit warily. "Why? You… don't plan on telling them, right?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Besides, they most probably know of half of the things we've discussed. I just think it'd be better if we get to know each other's skills better. You know, a sparring season or two maybe? That way we won't have to rely on sensei all the time. Especially not when he's so suspicious."

The pinkette perked up, beginning to act like the good old Sakura again- being serious didn't suit her. I had enjoyed the conversation though. Now I wouldn't be the only one cringing when Kakashi-sensei suddenly showed up. "Sure! I'll have to ask mom though." Then, she started giggling to herself. Yep, definitely the usual Sakura. "Leave Sasuke-kun to me… ufufufu…"

… Should I be worried? Probably.

"Well then…" As I was about to stand, a sudden nausea overcame me. I stumbled. Sakura quickly hurried to my side, propping me up again. "Are… are you alright?"

I ruffled my bangs and tried to wipe away the sweat on my forehead. "Yeah."

She scowled. "Doesn't look like that to me. Are you sick?"

The slight downturn of my lips was shakily changed into a smile. "…nah. Just a lack of sleep."

* * *

"Hi."

Sasuke jumped two feet in the air, dropping his spoon and flinging himself off of his chair in the process. I raised my hands in surrender, in case he decided that spoons could be useful too.

Once he gathered his bearings, the raven shot me an incredulous look. "What the- why can't you knock? On the door? _Like a normal person?"_

From where I was perched on his open window, I rolled my eyes. "Pfft. That wouldn't be fun."

He stared at me blankly. "…I don't get you."

I shrugged, not really caring. Grumbling, Sasuke sent a mournful look at his half-eaten cereal before directing his glare at me again. "What do you want?"

Woah, moody now, are we?

"I just wanted to inform you that we're gonna meet at training ground 7, today at 1PM. It'll be just you, Naruto, Sakura and I. No Kakashi-sensei."

He scoffed. "Hn. What if I don't come? I have better things to do than waste my time on you morons."

I smirked. "If you want to waste your time running away from Sakura for the rest of the afternoon, then sure, go ahead-"

He slapped a hand over my mouth, looking like he was anticipating something to jump on him any given time." _Out._ I'm coming, so go away already."

"Yessir!" I saluted, before jumping out of his window again. As I landed on the tiled roof and sped off to find Naruto's apartment, I heard the Uchiha yell, "Oi! I just _recently_ cleaned that!"

Whoops. I shouldn't have stepped into his kitchen with my sandals still on.

* * *

Finding Naruto's place wasn't that hard. Wherever I asked for Uzumaki Naruto's residence, people seemed to become tense. The stronger their glares and unease got, the closer I got to his apartment. Well, also, the closer I got to his apartment the crappier the neighborhoods got. Why the hell was this idiot even living in one of the outer districts? The outer districts were dangerous places- they were the neighborhoods at which most of the crimes happened. Even me and mom, who were dirt poor, didn't live in such a place. Surely he knew that? Then again, he _was_ an idiot.

Maybe he didn't tell us where he lived because he was hiding something? Great, now I'm imagining all kinds of things. Though, he _did_ resemble a girl if you looked at him from a certain angle…-

 _Nope._ You're _not_ going there Moriko. Stop it.

After I banned 'those' thoughts out of my mind ('impure' and 'disturbing' things, as you'd call them), I finally found where that blonde idiot lived. If I were to go by the 'Uzumaki' written big and boldly on his door and the trash can next to his apartment being filled to the brim with empty ramen cups, then yes- this was where he lived.

His flat looked… well. Broken windows, chipped off paint, holes in his door and walls and the _smell…_

This was _worse_ than _my_ house. And that was saying something.

I was a little disappointed when I realised that his door was already open. So, no grande entrance this time? Aw. Then again, I didn't want to accidentally get myself cut by a stray piece of glass. He really had to get his windows repaired.

The door creaked ominously when I opened it. Yep, this house was a dump. Why did he still live here? What a strange boy.

I took a step into his house and-

"W-WAIT-!"

Ducking and rolling forwards as fast as I could, I dodged a bunch of really sharp objects flying my way. One of them missed my cheek by a hair length and I gingerly touched the place one of them had nicked me at. Trembling, I tried controlling myself. A vein popped on my temple anyway.

Naruto ran to my side. Bad move, Naruto. "I'm sorry, 'ttebayo! Y-you see, I was planning on deactivating those traps today and setting new ones, but-"

" **No excuses allowed.** "

In the end, I gave him quite a scare. I held myself back from punching him because I wasn't sure if he could still come to our training season with a broken jaw. But a trickle of KI sufficed to make him tremble like a mouse caught in a trap.

Letting go off my anger and sighing wearily, I flopped onto his (admittedly dirty) couch. Geez, he had to clean up this place…

And you know what else got my attention? Plants.

Plants _everywhere._

On his kitchen table, in his room, on the tv, next to the couch, under the window sill, etc. It was shocking, because I would have never guessed that _Naruto_ of all people would be someone who liked to take care of plants. Because usually he was… uh. Orange, I guess. And the flowers seemed to be in a relatively good state too. Talk about unexpected.

"So… what are you doing here, 'ttebayo?" Naruto asked, in all his pyjama clad glory.

I stared blankly at him for a moment. Then, "…nice hat."

Blushing furiously, he immediately took it off and threw it away to the corner. "Sh-shut up! What are you doing here anyway?!"

Playing what a stray strand of hair, I yawned. "You. Me. Sakura. Sasuke. Training ground seven. 1PM."

His face scrunched up in confusion. "Huh? I don't remember Kakashi-sensei telling us to meet today…"

I rolled my eyes. "That's because he didn't. This time, it'll be just the four of us. Sparring and stuff."

Just as he was about to open his mouth to refuse my invitation, I cut him off. "Sakura _really_ looks forward to it… and I guess Sasuke's pretty fired up too." Seeing as the last time I had seen the Uchiha he was screaming at me to come back and clean up that mess, I was very sure he wanted to give me a piece of his mind.

Naruto, without wasting a single second, replied. "I'M GOING! ONE PM AT TRAINING GROUND 7, RIGHT?!"

As he raced to his room at an impossible speed, I chuckled. It wasn't hard to get him motivated. Moving around random objects around the floor, I finally reached the door. Time to take my leave. Half an hour before we had to meet up and I _still_ hadn't prepared my equipment.

Naruto, being the idiot he was, only noticed my absence after several minutes. "Eh…where did she go?!"

* * *

I made my way to training ground 7. Not before dragging Sakura with me though. If I hadn't found her, she would quiet possibly waste the whole day trying to find Sasuke. "- and I visited his house but he wasn't there either! Sasuke-kun, you better show up!"

"Calm down, Sakura-chan… I'm sure he's going to come." I reassured her, massaging my temples in the process. She was starting to give me a headache, talking non-stop about her 'Sasuke-kun'.

When we arrived, I was abruptly ambushed by a barrage of kunai and shuriken. Twisting to the side, I narrowly avoided getting them to the face. Sakura shrieked in surprise. This person… he…

" _I'll make you pay…"_ Sasuke gritted out, from where he was crouched in a low position. " _That was my newest carpet!"_

Standing up completely, I shifted into my own fighting stance. The academy taught every student the same taijutsu style, but we were allowed to improve our moves if we had our own preferences. You could say that everybody had a different fighting style- Some aimed a little lower, some attacked in specific patterns and some used mainly speed as their defense mechanism. While Sasuke preferred to strike like a snake, crouching low and shooting forward as fast as lightning, I preferred to be more… adaptable.

Attack patterns and choreography had never been my strengths. I either messed up the steps or forgot where to punch and kick. However, visual patterns like puzzles, designs and codes… I excelled in them. You might think: 'What does that have to do with your fighting style?'

Well… a lot, actually.

Predicting the attack patterns of your enemy was a very important thing. It was eerily easy for me to untangle a mishmash of different moves, let alone predict when and where my enemy used the same moves twice. Some based their taijutsu skills more on nippon kempo mixed with jujitsu. There were weird mixes too, like judo combined with Kobudo. Personally, I preferred Kenpo as my main fighting style. It was quick and swift, leaving the enemy confused. That led to openings, in which I could send them reeling with a hard jab to the face before they even knew what was happening.

As I thought, jōnin and above were harder to read. Kakashi-sensei had moved with the grace of a highly capable shinobi, almost always dodging and not revealing any weak points. It made me wonder if I would ever be able to reach his level.

Sasuke, he… well, he certainly didn't use any fighting style I knew of. Must be clan techniques, though it did look a little bit like karate.

In short, I changed my fighting style according to what style my enemy used and what our surroundings were. Hm… so, maybe I should use aikido with kobudo this time round? Yeah, that should do.

I smirked menacingly, drawing my sword out of it's sheath. Sakura sweatdropped. "Eh? You two are going to-"

" **Fight me, you lil' bitch. Nobody tries harming** _ **my**_ **face.** " I shot back. It was true. I was kinda pissed that he had almost harmed my most handsome face.

(Yes, 'handsome'. I wasn't complaining at all. I happily left the being cute and pretty thing to the other Kunoichi in my class.)

Sasuke only glared. " _Fool… I'll wipe the floor with you."_ I smirked, excitement rolling off of me in waves. When was the last time I fought a guy who _didn't_ faint at the slightest bit of Killing Intent I gave off?

Chuckling, I pointed the tip of my sword at him. " **I look forward to** _ **that**_ **, ne?** " Mocking comments? My specialty.

We sprang into action. Sakura groaned, mumbling something about 'aggressive teammates' and 'even Sasuke-kun?'.

I deflected his bombardment of shuriken with my sword, rapidly moving from one place to another. It wasn't in my nature to sit still when someone directed their Killing Intent at me. The excitement and anticipation that came with the impulse to make them _beg for mercy…_

There were many reasons why the teacher had never let me participate in class spars. One of them being my endless thirst for blood. Tobio and Nori had never gotten to experience that side of me first-hand, since my conscious automatically registered them as 'friends'. When it came to my other classmates, however… why the hell should I have to hold back my hate and despise towards the people calling me 'mammoth girl'? Psh, they were just jealous I was a head taller then them. Especially the boys. Somehow, in my presence, their manliness seemed to decrease by about 45%.

I dodged his blows and jabs, blocking some of his kunai with the handle of my sword. To be honest, this guy had plenty of speed but… he lacked strength. My eyes widened when I almost got hit by one of his explosive tagged kunai. Woah, when did he throw that? Immediately after seeing that one moment of hesitation, he hurled a fire style jutsu at me. "Fire release: Great Fireball jutsu!"

I only cartwheeled in time to avoid _that_ one. Noticing that part of my hoodie was singed, a big grin spread across my face. He may not be exceptionally strong or the best in terms of speed but… he was crafty. I had noticed since a while now that he was trying to corner me further into the forest. He had noticed that I could move better on grassland. Not bad. Not bad at all. So he wasn't called 'rookie of the year' for nothing.

Suddenly, I sensed danger coming. Danger which was in no way related to Sasuke.

"DON'T START WITHOUT ME DATTEBAYOOOOOO!" Naruto almost managed to tackle me. Almost. I only had to take a step to the side for him to trip and land on his face.

"Hn, and the idiot joins." Sasuke sniffed. Naruto shook a fist at him from where he laid on the ground. "Who's the idiot?!"

The anticipation of smashing someone's face in was replaced with exasperation. Aw. Just when it was getting interesting too. Oh well, I _did_ tell him to come, didn't I? Might as well let him join.

I lowered my sword, shooting a look at Naruto. "Hey, Naruto-san."

He quizzically looked at me, lifting his face off of the ground. "Huh?"

" _Think fast."_

"Wha-"

The blonde only rolled aside in time. Both his and Sakura's eyes got big when they saw the tip of my sword burried halfway into the ground, leaving dents and cracks all around the spot. Naruto hastily got up, flailing with his arms and trying to say something sensible. "Wha- wha- wha- WHAT THE HELL?! ARE YOU TRYING TO _KILL_ ME?!"

Sakura looked terrified. "M-Mori-san! That's d-dangerous!"

I pulled out my sword from the ground, pointing the tip of it at Naruto. He recoiled and tried to hide behind Sakura- of course, she punched him for 'touching a maiden without asking!'.

Rolling my eyes at the two of them, I withdrew my sword. "Geez, Naruto. Ya think the enemy would stop attacking just to ask you out for tea or something? Psh, I'd like to see that. So, are you gonna join us or what?"

Just as he was about to reply with a smartass comment, a shuriken flew right at him. The blonde yelped, hurling himself out of the way. Sakura tripped backwards in her haste to get out of Naruto's way and landed on her rear.

"Hn. He can't even properly dodge a single shuriken. How lame." Sasuke tsked. I threw a sharp glare his way. What the? It was _my_ job to make them feel small and stupid. Not _his._

But then I saw the glint in his eyes and the way he smirked condescendingly. That look… I _knew_ that look. It was the same expression _I_ wore whenever I intentionally provoked Tobio just to get him to spar with me.

So it was like that? How fun.

But I couldn't let him hog my spotlight. He was the passive aggressive type, where he preffered to make people go crazy with how little emotional response he gave. Making ridiculous comments and annoying remarks was _my_ job. He should stick to _his_ method and _not_ steal my techniques. I couldn't let this matter go either…

After all, this was a pefect opportunity to polish my skills in pissing people off.

"I'm disappointed, was such a messy landing… do you not even know how to avoid a sloppily thrown shuriken? Tsk, tsk." Then, I focused on the pinkette. "And you- what was _that?_ What a blatant display of incompetence! What're you gonna do if you trip on air in the middle of a battlefield? You're gonna be _screwed,_ I tell you. Don't expect your prince charming to come to your aid everytime you do something unintelligent."

Naruto was the first to snap out of his dumbfounded stupor. "Are… are you calling me _stupid?!_ "

Sasuke robotically turned to me, twitching in agitation. "Slo…ppy..? I'll show you sloppy-!"

And Sakura had the ugliest expression of all. " _Huuuuh… 'Incompetent', you say?"_

Everything kinda escalated from there on. Sasuke made a dive for my throat but Naruto (somehow) got there faster, making the Uchiha collide with the blonde's back, which, in turn, led to Naruto's grip on my forearm to be loosened. Of course I escaped. Then, the two of them totally forgot about me, arguing between each other about how they could have caught me were it not for the other boy. The argument blew up into a full out brawl, with biting and all.

However, I didn't have time to sit back and watch the show. Sakura was still _there_ after all. Yes. Behind me. And oozing an alarming amount of black aura.

" _In…competent, you say?"_

I didn't know about the others, but Sakura could be hella scary if she wanted to. Sometimes I wondered if she was purposely holding that side of herself back. Whenever she got like this, all her shyness seemed to vanish and leave a very angry girl in it's wake. A very angry girl who could pack a punch.

Maybe I should find a name for this occurrence? Ah, what about 'dark Sakura'?

"QUIT IGNORING ME!"

In the end, we all lay beaten and bruised on the ground. Naruto's cheek was swelling from when Sakura had accidentally punched him, Sasuke had countless cuts all over his body (courtesy of Naruto's wire traps) and I couldn't properly tread on my left foot because of Sasuke's stupid fire techniques. Ugh, and burn salves were especially pricey these days.

And guess what? My bandages got ruined again.

This was not at all how I had imagined this meeting to go. I had planned on discussing our weak and strong points in a more civilized way. Oh well, this worked too.

I smirked to myself, looking up at the darkening sky. After some point in time, we had started beating each other just for the heck of it. Only god knows how much I had dreamt of kicking the Uchiha once (or maybe thrice) in the face. Life goals? Fulfilled.

"…we should do that again sometime." I declared.

The only answer I received were three sets of pained groans.

* * *

 **A/N: I'll tell (write) you a rather unnecessary fact: Moriko, when she talks, uses the word _Uchi_ (内) ****to identify herself. Saying** ** _Uchi_** **for "I" is informal and has no gender connotation. That's why, coupled with her looks, attitude and crude language, many people seem to mistake her for a boy.**


	7. Chapter 7

**And another one! \^o^/**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

 _A cold smile crawled up on his face. He laughed sardonically._

" _I thought this was supposed to be a_ children's _show…"_

* * *

I eyed the target carefully, not once letting it out of my sight. It was fast and my feet were starting to ache from all the running around I had done in the past two hours. Coupled with the intense three hour training I had done yesterday, this mission proved to be a real pain in the ass.

"This is Sasuke, arrived at point B." I couldn't help but think that his voice sounded even more snobbish coming from the transceiver.

"Sakura here, arrived at point C." Her voice was controlled and professional, not at all like her usual self where she couldn't keep herself from swooning over the handsome Uchiha.

"Naruto here, arrived at point A." He took a while to answer… huh, must be getting into position.

I didn't miss a beat as I announced my location. "This is Mori, arrived at point D." From where I was perched on a tree, I could see the target perfectly.

"What's the distance to the target?", Kakashi's voice blared through the speakers on my head. Naruto answered with a curt, "Five meters. I'm ready anytime."

"So am I."

"Me too."

There wasn't any time for me to verify them of my readiness. The target was _fast._ I quickly whisper-yelled, "The target has moved!"

"Okay! GO!"

As soon as Kakashi gave the OK, we burst through the undergrowth and jumped on the unfortunate soul from all four directions. Naruto briskly grabbed the brown cat yelling "GOT'CHA!". Tora let out an inhuman screech and immediately started clawing at Naruto's whiskered face. It was fun, watching him struggle and bleed and make all those interesting choking noises, but we had money to collect from the hokage tower. So, no dilly dallying.

Reaching a hand out, I tried grabbing Tora's scruff. "Okay Naruto-san, now you can let-"

A swipe of the paw. The sting of sharp claws piercing through skin. Three long lines slowly oozing blood. "- **go…** "

The only thing Sakura and Naruto could do was exchange horrified glances. Sasuke, who had previously been confirming the capture of Tora the cat, robotically turned around. The cat in itself was frozen in place. A sickeningly sweet smile bloomed on my face. Meanwhile, my eyes where informing the filthy beast of all kinds of murder. " **There there, little kitty cat… what a naughty thing you are… there is a lot I can teach you…** "

Yeah. Nobody could have guessed that the airheaded Sawada Moriko had a _temper._ While I usually didn't get annoyed this easily, sleep deprivation plus annoying teammate banter and 'Sasuke-kun you're so cool!' could wear down someone's patience real quick. Seriously, whoever had the ability to put up with these people for more than a day without killing somebody was a saint. A _fucking saint._

I put up with them on a daily basis… did that make me a saint? Maybe.

I didn't like putting my temper to display- mainly because I was told not to (since my mother wasn't keen on scaring everyone within 5 meter radius off) and it drew attention like woah. I did _not_ like attention. All those people staring at me with judgement in their eyes and intruding into my personal bubble of privacy? Nope. Not very comfortable. I found that the longer I stayed with these people, the harder it got to control the urge to maim everything within reach.

For one, Sasuke was a jackass. He could _not_ take a joke and he never failed to rub his superiority into my face. He also had that _really weird_ hobby where he liked provoking people. Naruto was loud, annoying and orange. _Too_ orange, in fact. Who the fuck wears _bright orange?_ Dark orange, or whatever it's called, I understand. But seeing that bright fucking _orange_ every single day was starting to hurt my eyes. And Sakura… she was mostly okay, I guess. With 'okay', I mean, 'Sasuke-kunSasuke-kunSasuke-kunSasuke-kunohmygoshyou'resocool'. Kakashi-sensei, you ask? He didn't do jack shit. The jounin always stood to the side, reading that wonderful book full of plot twists, suspense and beautiful romance WHICH I COULD NOT READ BECAUSE THERE WAS NO TIME TO.

…I admit, with him, it was a matter of jealousy. Seriously though, why did _he_ get to read while _we_ worked our asses off? I never would have guessed I'd hate the title 'jounin' as much as I did now.

To say the least, the eyes of nearly every fellow shinobi bulged when they saw a shivering, but tame, Tora in my arms. Kakashi-sensei didn't look that surprised though. The cat was still wide eyed and motionless, as if waiting for the danger to pass. I was running a hand through his fur in calm motions, not loosening my grip on the tom. It might have looked like I was just petting the scared feline. In reality, I was ready to sink my nails in it's fur any time the little bastard tried to escape.

It was peaceful with the demon cat so silent… well, as peaceful as it could get with Naruto talking non-stop about my Killing Intent all the way back to the hokage tower. "Like, how do you do that?! Everytime _I_ try they laugh at me! You make it so strong it shuts them up instantly!"

Sasuke snorted. "Dobe. You're the only one who can make Killing Intent feel stupid."

The blonde prankster glared. "Shut up, Sasuke-bastard! You trembled like the little sissy you are when she released it that time! Bwak bwak! Stupid chicken butt head!"

"That's coming from _you_ , idiot!" The Uchiha growled.

Aaaand they were at it again. Even Sakura had lost the will to stop their fights after some point in time. Kakashi-sensei didn't even acknowledge their spats anymore. After a whole month full of boring D-rank missions, squad 7 had mostly gotten accustomed to each other… mostly. I still had to wince whenever the last Uchiha smirked at me. It looked _so_ condescending, _so_ smug and _so fucking superior_ that I had the urge to punch his freaking face in.

But that wasn't relevant to our current situation in any way- we were watching in morbid fascination as Madam Shijimi, the fire country lord's wife, started asphyxiating her beloved 'Tora-chan' with a series of bone crushing hugs. I couldn't find it in myself to feel sorry for the little beast. That thing had clawed my arm right through the bandages. They had been the the _6_ _th_ _pair_ this week. Fucking fantastic. With the way things were going, I was pretty sure the weapons shop would be sold out of bandages before they could even restock them. It was a running gag between Nori and Tobio by now. Even _mother_ was onto it.

My eyes glazed over as Hokage-sama started droning on about our duties as a team. Babysitting? Shopping? _Digging for potatoes?_ Okay, there was something seriously wrong here… We had done all those for a whole _month_ and I _still_ couldn't keep myself from strangling those spoiled ass children. It spoke volumes about my personality. Patience, thy are not my virtue.

"NO! No thanks to all those! I want a more exciting mission! Choose something else!" Naruto abruptly interrupted the old man. Well, only _he_ had the audacity to do such a thing, I guess.

While I wasn't _nearly_ as motivated as he was on this matter, it _did_ catch my interest. Yes, I certainly didn't want the kind of 'excitement' Naruto meant, since I had a mother to get home to. What would she do without my (rather abysmal) cooking skills? Or the painkillers I always left for her before I went out? Or… _what if she 'used' my room for certain activities because she was too drunk to notice the difference between her and my room?_

Oh the horror.

On the other hand though… a change in scenery would be rather nice. Even Sasuke seemed to agree begrudgingly, although Sakura didn't look pleased at all with the way Naruto had phrased that request. Kakashi-sensei, in his usual deadpan glory, gave off the impression that he knew this would happen all along.

I sighed when I weighed the facts against each other and came to the conclusion that mother needed me most. Besides, I still had those genjutsu lessons going on with Tobio. Nori was usually the one casting a weak genjutsu on him and I was the one that instructed him how to dispell them. Of course, I got credit from his training too- while I _did_ suck at casting genjutsu, I was rather adept at dispelling them. However, my chakra could react… rather violently against the intrusion of foreign chakra. It did more damage than good, because even though the attacker's chakra got disrupted for a short amount of time, it backlashed on me too. We were trying to eliminate that problem and I had only improved marginally.

Shaking my head, my instant answer was, "No."

Buuuut, nobody heard me utter that single world because they were too busy staring at a screeching Iruka. "You idiot! You're still just a rookie! Everyone starts off with the simple duties and works their way up!"

Naruto protested. "But, but! We keep getting the crappiest possible duties!" He was quickly silenced by a punch on the head by none other than Kakashi-sensei. Sasuke looked unimpressed (though, dare I say, a little disappointed) and Sakura winced with a mutter of 'that has got to hurt…'. I only turned my eyes away in disinterest. Now that _that_ matter was over and done with, we could all continue with our daily lifes and perform these tasks as fast as possible-

"Naruto… It looks like I need to explain to you what missions are."

-Oh _what the hell_ Hokage.

Blah blah blah clients, blah blah blah assassinations, blah blah blah high ranking officials and whatnot. We had covered all that bullshit in the academy already. Why repeat it? Oh, right. Uzumaki Naruto. Number one prankster ninja and a class skipper to boot. Of _course_ it was because of him that we were wasting our time here.

Nonetheless, I couldn't be too mad at him. The blonde was one of those few people with a really bad ADHD problem. He couldn't help it if the Hokage explained that totally boring aspect of being a ninja with a completely deadpan voice quality. Even _I_ had a hard time staying focused on his speech.

In the end, nobody in team 7 really listened to the old man's didactic lecture.

"I had tonkotsu ramen yesterday , so I'm gonna eat miso ramen today." Naruto mused.

I made a face. "I understand miso, but tonkotsu? That just does not taste right. Shōyu ramen is definitely the best."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "You have disrespected the ramen gods. How can you live with what you have become? There will be no fights or judgement… only ramen…"

Sasuke snorted. "Stop overdramatazing it, Dobe. Also, Shio ramen tastes so much more better."

I gasped. "Shio ramen?! I never took you for the traditional type." The Uchiha only shrugged in a noncommittal manner.

Sakura mulled over it."Honestly, I prefer Zaru ramen…"

Meanwhile, Hokage-sama was getting pretty red in the face. "HEY! LISTEN!" All Kakashi-sensei could do was hastily apologise while casting shady looks at us. I returned his glances with a haughty 'what-you-gonna-do-about-it?' expression which he didn't seem to be too impressed by.

Our brief exchange was ignored by the others in favor of listening to Naruto's tirade about boring lectures. "You always give me those speeches, pops! But I'm _not_ the kid who used to pull pranks anymore!"

I sweat dropped when he proceeded to turn his back on the old man like petulant child. Hard to believe that he had matured when he still had those random temper tantrums... Still, there was some truth to his words. After nearly a month and a half full of boring missions (where we usually fucked _something_ up), we weren't just strangers anymore. No, we were teammates, friends and rivals. No _way_ could I have missed those longing glances he shot at the paint shop or how he had a hard time putting the glue and tripwire back to their places.

"Very well. I understand." Those four words coming from the Hokage's lips made Naruto perk up immediately. Sasuke's eyebrows rose up so high, I thought they might just fly off his face. Sakura seemed to be thinking something along the lines of 'he's finally gone senile…'

Kakashi-sensei? I was pretty sure he had the strong urge to scream 'WHAT.' at the top of his lungs. I was torn in between the decision of joining him or laughing at his comical expression. I settled for contorting my face into a grimace. Well, I guess now I had to lock the door to my room… and _yes,_ I was taking the ropes and bandages with me. _All of them._ None of that bondage shit was going to happen while I was gone.

The hokage smirked, amusement evident on his face. "I will allow you to take on a C ranked mission. It's to escort a certain person."

Why did I have the unsettling feeling that _something_ was going to go wrong in this?

"Really!? Who, who!? A feudal lord? A princess!?" Naruto excitedly gushed. I sighed in exasperation and hung my head. Dealing with an arrogant feudal lord? Or a spoiled princess? It made me want to hide somewhere until those snobs either left or got kidnapped. "Ugh… let's just get this over with…"

The widening of Hokage-sama's smirk couldn't _possibly_ mean anything good. "Don't get so hasty. I'll introduce him now. Will you please come in here?"

The door opened to reveal a… ah, shit.

"What's this? They're all just a bunch of kids!" slurred the old man in his late sixties. An alcohol bottle in his calloused hands, sake dripping down his chin and a scowl set on his face. Th-this was…

He took another large mouthful of sake and turned his beady eyes on us. Sakura was watching his every move with disgust, Sasuke's eye was twitching like crazy and Naruto looked green in the face. Kakashi-sensei regarded the client cooly, looking like the embodiment of professionalism. I immediately grabbed my right hand in a tight grip, as to not lose control and 'accidentally' punch him in the face. Because this man was…

"Hey, is the smallest one with the stupid face really a ninja?" the old man complained. Naruto started laughing. "Ahahaha! Who's the one with the stupid face?" Both Sakura and Sasuke stepped closer to the Uzumaki. I didn't even _have_ to compare my height to theirs.

For an idiot, he was surprisingly quick to realize. Kakashi-sensei had to hold him back by the collar when the blonde proceeded to flail and threathen the alcoholic man. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

Meanwhile, Sakura started to slowly edge away from me. Sasuke mumbled something along the lines of 'please don't tell me she's going to do something stupid…', when quiet (unnerving) laughs escaped me. This man was… this man looked _just like_ my mother's usual customers… like a leery old man who had nothing better to do than hit on pretty ladies in their thirties.

Those kinds of guys were usually pretty high on my list of 'people I want to kill'.

Shoving Naruto's whiskered face back and effectively shutting him up, I took a step forward. A sickly sweet smile bloomed on my face- one that didn't' reach my eyes and probably showed too much pointy teeth to be considered friendly. " **You won't have to worry, sir. Any threats who dare to attack us will be eliminated. We will have a** _ **wonderful**_ **time together.** "

The unspoken question of "he isn't included in the 'us' part, is he?" was ignored. The man shakily nodded his head and answered with a meek, "Y…yes."

Somewhere at the back of the room, I could hear Iruka-sensei muttering, "Somehow, that didn't sound very assuring at all…" Naruto and Sakura, on the other hand, muttered with varying degrees of horror and fascination, "D-dark Moriko comes out…"

Kakashi-sensei only flipped open his book and completely abandoned the air of professionalism he had had just now. That fucker was _mocking me,_ I tell you. Damn, I didn't bring my book today. Don't even ask me where I got all those novels from- mom absolutely _sucked_ at hiding things. Sure, she could lie like a pro, but hiding objects? Definitely not her strongest point.

Sasuke took a step forward next to me and laid a tentative hand on my shoulder (because nobody ever really knows _when_ I bite). I took a deep breath to clear my head. Okay, Moriko. This man _wasn't_ one of your mother's customers. He was just a drunk old man who probably had many sad stories to tell and many things to brag over, like how he shagged that hot chick once in his life when he was still young…

Somehow, that thought didn't curb my distain at all.

And why the hell was Sakura glaring at me? Oh, right, Sasuke- wait a minute. It was just a _shoulder touch,_ you crazy girl!What, did she think we were going to suddenly embrace one another and passionately make out with each other? Seriously- _One. Whole. Month. Of. Teamwork._ Plus shitty antics. She had to grow out of the kiddie-crush phase someday.

"You are our client?" Sasuke asked not rudely, but not politely either. The old man gulped, took a glance at me and a constipated look came over his face. "I… am the bridge building expert Tazuna. Once I have returned to my country, I will expect of all of you to protect my life with yours while _I_ complete the bridge."

Unimpressed with his introduction, I shook the Uchiha's hand off and turned to Hokage-sama with an annoyed expression. "When do we start?"

He smiled. Or smirked. I couldn't really tell, with all the wrinkles on his face. "Further information is available in the mission scroll. Kakashi?"

The jounin had put his icha icha down, a certain glint in his eye which I was unsettled by. "Hai, Hokage-sama."

I wasn't sure if the brief glance Iruka-sensei took of me was supposed to mean something or not.

* * *

Privately, in the Hokage's room, the brunette teacher slammed his hands on the Hokage's desk. "A mission to the _Land of Waves?!_ Hokage-sama, with all due respect, what where you thinking?! Her…- her father-"

"I am well aware, Iruka… but have you given a thought about where Moriko-chan's mother works at?" Hiruzen lazily took another whiff of his pipe while Iruka sputtered for an answer. "For… for Gatō entertainment industries…?", he responded with confusion etched onto his visage.

The Sarutobi wisely nodded. "Yes… And you have heard the rumors, haven't you?"

After a moment of stifling silence, realization dawned on Iruka's face. "Kaoru-san… she had a debt to that industry, hadn't she? Coupled with the rumors about Gatō Company being sighted in Nami no Kuni and the Daimyō being bribed… huh. Wait, why exactly would they bribe the Daimyō? And what part does Kaoru-san play in this?"

Another cloud of smoke escaped the Sarutobi's mouth. "You probably have not heard of it before, but Nami no Kuni is being targeted by Gatō. They are exceptionally good at covering up their tracks but some of our nins have found clues about drug dealing and illegal shipping done for human experiments. However, we still don't have enough evidence to accuse them. I, as the Hokage, don't have the complete authority to make decisions like those on my own. The Daimyō refuses to say anything."

The moment his eyes turned dark, Iruka knew what the old man was going to say. "As stated in the files, her father comes Kirigakure. In the past, Nami no Kuni was closely connected to Kirigakure. It was a place where Konoha nin and Kiri nin weren't allowed to fight. But after Kiri handed the land over to us, there is no such rule anymore. With Kaoru-chan having been his lover, plus her being a former citizen of Nami no Kuni, he definitely had some kind of connection to Gatō and his men. Unfortunately, the yamanaka mindwalking her could not find anything of use. Certain memories of hers were wiped clean- including anything that concerns her lover. We are afraid that it's a sealing jutsu."

Umino tightened his grip on the edge of the desk. The meaning of those implications... "You mean… Moriko is sent there because-"

"Yes. It is necessary." Hiruzen's lips curled in distaste at the situation. "…She looks a lot like her father, doesn't she?"

* * *

"You… you got a C-RANK MISSION?!" Tobio yelled from where he was seated across from me. Nori, sitting next to him, bonked him on the head. It wasn't a very powerful hit but it shut Tobio up nonetheless.

The green eyed girl smiled cheerfully, clasping her hands together. "That's great, Mori-chan! I am _so_ proud of you! Let me hug you!" Tobio's murmured 'what about me?' was met with another hit on the head. I guess she _was_ still upset about that…

I put my head on the table and sighed. "I still have to pack my bag and tell mom about this. We go to Nami no Kuni tomorrow and it'll probably take a few weeks before we come back again. I came directly here, since there won't be any time to say goodbye to you guys tomorrow."

Tobio hummed. "How's the client?"

I scoffed. "An old, arrogant man with drinking problems and absolutely no shame whatsoever."

Nori scowled. "Oh. That's… not nice." The blonde shared a look with the boy next to her. Tobio, easily catching onto the change of moods, fixated his concerned gaze on me. "You'll be alright, right? It's not dangerous or anything?"

I huffed out a laugh. "Hah… I don't know about that. But Sensei will be with us, so I'm not very worried."

Nori's scowl deepened, if that was even possible. It wasn't a good look for her. "Yeah but… the nightmares haven't stopped, have they?" Tobio's eyes widened. "They didn't? But she told me…"

My smile dropped. _No,_ we were _not_ going to have this conversation. "Look, I get that you're worried, but they're not that bad anymore. At least I can get some decent sleep before those… scenes show up. Also, I don't even remember half of them afterwards. Mom also introduced me to this _really_ effective method, which I call 'hug the pillows to death until you're awake enough to not kill somebody at first glance.'"

Tobio shivered. "I still can't forget what you did to me back then…" I shrugged. He had once sneaked into my room in hopes of making me go 'Kya!' or something and… well. Let's just say he was too close for comfort and almost got a kunai in the face. He would have looked like the chibi version of Iruka-sensei if he hadn't dodged in time. The expression he had on his face still made me laugh to this day.

Nori relaxed against her seat and seemed satisfied by my answer. I exhaled in relief and sagged into my chair. That had gone better than expected. The meat on our plates had been eaten long ago. Hm, the shop had to be pretty busy if the waiters didn't have enough time to pick up our plates.

There was a peaceful silence. The only sounds were coming from Tobio munching on his barbecue. Then, "Sooo… about those bandages-"

"DON'T YOU EVEN _DARE._ "

* * *

Kaoru's brow scrunched up in thought. "A mission? To the land of waves?"

Moriko, her daughter, had left a note on the door before going out. It read that she'd be away for a couple of weeks and that _yes,_ she had taken all the ropes with her. The bandages too. Kaoru wanted to sulk at first but decided against it.

Instead, it was guilt she felt. Moriko's first C-rank mission and she, as her mother, had been too busy trying to sleep the hangover off to give her precious daughter a goodbye kiss? What if… what if something happened and she couldn't see her precious baby ever again?!

The brunette beauty felt unworthy. Why the tall girl still considered her as a mom was beyond her. She was an absolutely shitty mother and she knew it.

But Kaoru had to work- even the little money they gave her would be just enough to feed her dear Moriko. Though, sometimes she wondered. How much longer could she continue this profession? If it weren't for the debt, she would have left for another job long ago.

At the mentioning of Nami no Kuni, alarm bells rang inside her head. For what, she didn't know. But it was insistent, panicky even, telling her that there was _danger danger_ _ **danger-**_

She caught herself just in time, shakily pulling herself up by the kitchen desk.

' _I'm forgetting something- but_ _ **what**_ _?"_

* * *

 **A/N: Another unnecessary fact: When I first started watching Naruto, I absolutely hated Sakura and didn't even know Hinata existed in the first place. But after I rewatched it (because what else was I supposed to do while waiting for the next episode?) my opinions changed drastically. Basically, Hinata _will_ appear in this story and Sakura _will_ undergo some changes** **.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey there! Only a couple of days until new year's day, huh? Then I better post this chapter now than later!**

 **To my reviewers:**

 _ **Shinan7:**_ **I'm glad you find it interesting! And funny too! Thank you! XD**

 _ **Shadow of God:**_ **Actually, Moriko _does_ know that there's a debt. Unfortunately, she doesn't now _how_ large it is. Also, the money Moriko earns automatically goes to her bank account (I don't care if it's the ninja world or whatever, there's got to be some kind of system for that) and I imagine that Kaoru wouldn't want to use the money her own daughter makes. Even if Moriko _wants_ to help her mother repay the debt, it wouldn't mean a thing if Kaoru doesn't accept the money. She, as a proud mother, wants Moriko to use the money she makes for _herself_ and not spend it on her mother, who is capable of taking care of her own issues. For now, all Moriko can do is pay for the rent :/ And her dad... hmmm... ^_^**

 _ **nora9gina:**_ **You simply reviewing makes me happy! You don't have to make it sound professional and thank you for liking my story! *sniff* I'm tearing up here... Seriously, you're making me blush. And I never would have guessed Kaoru would become a favorite character. I don't know, she was kinda created on a whim... well, that just means I'll have to give her more motherly moments! As for the scandal... you'll just have to find out XD**

 _ **xenocanaan:**_ **Well then, look forward to it! ;)**

 _ **NightlyRowenTree:**_ **Cool, ya XD Thank you!**

 **And now...**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

 _Same pale Skin. Same green eyes. Same chestnut brown hair._

 _The words escaped my lips before I could stop them._

" _I can help you."_

* * *

"Fuck."

Guess who had to wake up at the asscrack of dawn today?

That's right. Me.

And guess who decided to wake me up?

That's right. For some _unknown_ reason, I lay on the cold hard floor, feet tangled up in my bed sheets and Naruto lauging madly, like it was the funniest thing ever. It was one thing to have fallen out of bed while sleeping and _not_ noticing it- another matter entirely, was that an acquaintance actually _saw_ you in such an embarrassing position. Hugging a life-size pillow to death with dried drool on my chin, that is.

"…what. Are you doing here, Naruto."

Under the weight of my glare, he ceased his snickering. Well, not completely, but enough to at least answer my question intelligibly. "Well- pfff- y-you see… I woke up k-kinda early today, so I thought I'd pay you a visit but… b-but… PFFFAHAHAHAHA! IT WAS WORTH IT, 'TTEBAYO! GYAHAHAHA!"

And that's how I left a hastily written note for my mother to read while dragging a viciously beaten Naruto behind me. How did he find my house anyway?

…Scratch that thought, I didn't want to know.

Adjusting the straps of my backpack, I glanced back at a mumbling Naruto nursing the bump on his head. I wasn't particularly worried about Naruto's bloody state. Somehow, he managed to heal within minutes, a feat even the almighty Kakashi-sensei could not perform. He'd probably still feel sore from the bashing I'd given him but… nah. Who told him to be a fucking brat at 4am in the morning anyway?

That matter aside, Naruto just _wouldn't_ quit fidgeting the whole time I dragged him to the place our team was supposed to meet up at. He was starting to giggle ( _'GIGGLE'._ You get me? _GIGGLING._ Not chuckling or whatever, _GIGGLING_ ) like a dirty old perv by the time we had come 15 meters within the gates. Not once did he stop doing that… that _thing_ with his eyes going all sparkly and glittery and stuff and oh god _why the hell are you emitting those flowers and hearts-_

Yes. Frankly, it was terrifying.

And going by Sakura and Sasuke's faces, they thought the same.

"Ugh… what's his deal, so early in the morning…" Sakura groaned. Sasuke only made a vague 'tch' sound, but it was enough to convey his feelings of annoyance. Come to think of it, maybe his constant 'tch', 'Hn' and 'Hmph' sounds were in actuality… a morse code?!

"Hn. The face you're making right now tells me that you've made a very unnecessary and probably wrong revelation just now."

…Then again, maybe not.

Faced with the full force of my blank stare, he only so much as spared me a glance. And although he had turned his head away, I could still see that maddening smirk on his face. This guy… he really liked picking fights, didn't he? What an infuriating hobby. For now though, he was my teammate… so I'd just have to suck it up and resist the urge to dunk his oh so handsome face in a pot full of boiling acid.

Well, I could still dream, right? To tie him up into an especially painful position and just punch him once… maybe twice… wait, that wouldn't be enough… ah, the things I could do to straight out that godawful personality of his…

"Moriko… your face is kinda scary…" Naruto muttered, having stopped his rant about… huh. What was he talking about again?

"Hohoho… Is that so?" I replied in monotone, not really listening and letting my mind drift. While I was at it, why not capture that bastard Hibachi and use that ugly hat of his as fuel for the fireplace? Hm, and what about that wretched gossip Kōta? I oughta teach that chatty mouth of his a lesson.

"What… is she _doing_?" Tazuna asked to nobody in particular. So that geezer finally arrived? About damn time- we had been waiting here since freaking dawn (yes, the sunrise was beautiful) waiting for that old bag to lug his ancient self here (I had also witnessed a mother bird helping it's chick, it was cute) and he actually brought _another_ dozen alcohol bottles?!

"You see…" Sakura began, searching for the words to say. Just then, looking at her green eyes, I remembered something. Mom had surely waken up by now, right? Had she eaten something before going out? Surely, she wouldn't forget to eat breakfast! She wouldn't forget something so crucial at the start of the day- wait a minute. What if she had usen the stove and forgotten to put the fire out? Wh-what if she left the house, completely unaware of the stove being on and the house actually catched fire?! No way, right?!

 _Looking at an excited Naruto, enraptured in his fantasies about the outside world, nobody could deny that he looked absolutely terrifying with the way his eyes sparkled. Flowers bloomed from wherever he touched and the way his blonde hair flowed softly in the wind, made Sasuke want to empty the contents of his stomach right away. Preferably, somewhere far away from the Uzumaki._

 _But the most weird of all was Moriko, striking incomprehensible poses. Her expressions changed rapidly, from annoyed to defeated to victorious to horrified. What made it all the more petrifying, was the fact that she could actually contort herself into the weirdest of positions. 'No matter how you look at it, your back isn't supposed to bend that way.', Sasuke thought, as he witnessed his pitiful friend contorting herself into the most impressive backbend Tazuna had ever seen.'…why a backbend? What in the world is she thinking of?', Kakashi-sensei thought, regarding his student in utter disdain._

Sakura took a good hard look at us, her teammates. "…You know what? Forget it." I threw her a blank look from where I had flexed myself into a leg stretch . And yet, her inner self still bothered to narrate all that with italics? Hah, hypocrite. "It's called yoga, mind you."

"…why are you doing yoga in the first place?" Sasuke inquired, looking like he was hesitant to know the answer.

"It's called 'killing time'?" I always ended up inner monologuing so it did get weird huh?

Kakashi-sensei, from where he had miraculously appeared, only closed his eyes in exasperation. "I don't get paid enough for this…"

You sure don't… come to think of it, I still hadn't asked Naruto what his problem was. It was true that he occasionally had these… moments, where he went all fanboy on something trivial (like on one of those new Princess Gale movies- seriously, who watched those anymore?). But what could he possibly be spirited about _now_? We were going to unknown and possibly dangerous territory with a drunk old man who had nothing better to do than call _us,_ the super talented ninja-bodyguards, _stupid brats_. What the hell was there to be excited about? Honestly speaking, I would take spoiled princesses anytime over angry old coots. At least _they_ had cute sides.

We took off (but not before getting a full view of the gateguards busting a gut at Kakashi-sensei's misfortune) and I never once took my wary eyes off of the blonde idiot in our team. Whatever kind of stupid disease he had catched, _it was freaking me out._ Unfortunately, it was impossible to avoid him, since he kept jumping around and it sure as hell wasn't _my_ responsibility to stop him.

"Seriously, what are you all excited for, Naruto?!" Sakura demanded, finally fed up with Naruto's rather sparkly presence. Sakura, you are a god. You have attempted what none of us could do. Said whiskered blonde, however, could care less about the obvious annoyance of his crush. He turned to her with big sparkling eyes, making her cringe in distaste. "Because I've never gone outside the village before!"

Silence reigned for a while, the only sounds being our footsteps and the chirping of cicadas. Then, Tazuna scoffed. I let loose a long depressed sigh, fighting the urge to just throw him off a nearby cliff. "Look. Naruto. Me neither. But do you see _me_ jumping around like my ass is on fire? No. Get a grip, you idiot. You might just jump into a minefield and get your leg blown off."

He gaped, the shiny background he had going on until now shattering behind him. " _WHAT?!_ Really?!"

Sasuke sighed and looked absolutely done. "No, you idiot. She's joking. That would never happen in the middle of the road-"

"-It could, if the enemy nins put a genjutsu on the trap-"

"-And if there _was_ one, Kakashi would sense it." He ended with a glare to my direction. A raised my hands in surrender and continued walking alongside a now jittery Naruto. Well, at least he had stopped doing that flower-emitting thing. Sakura cast doubtful glances at Kakashi-sensei, who was busy giggling over his book.

Tazuna facepalmed, looking at the whiskered boy with exasperation. "…I'm going to die. And that brat is going to be the cause of it."

Naruto immediately whipped around. "Hey, you dirty geezer! Don't you underestimate ninjas! I am a _great_ ninja and one day, when I become a very powerful Hokage, you'll come crawling to _me_ , Uzumaki Naruto, wanting to apologize 'cause you were rude 'ttebayo!"

"That kind of rhymed…" I whispered. Sakura sweat dropped. "I don't think that matters…"

I tuned out the rest of Naruto's shrieks and Tazuna's complaints. They were spouting nonsense, like how Tazuna wouldn't respect a brat like him even if he was hokage and Naruto telling him to go to hell. For one, I was pretty sure Tazuna would have to respect Naruto if he ever became hokage, because it was pretty damn hard to achieve that title. Then again, it was Naruto we were talking about. I doubted he even knew what the words 'sense of responsibility' meant.

"Why do I have the feeling that you're thinking bullshit 'bout me?" The blonde swiveled to face me, his hand clenched into a fist.

I immediately put on a surprised face, covering my mouth with a hand. Else, he would see the wolfish smirk forming on my face. "What? Why would I do that? Thinking about bullshit… that's gross, Naruto. Is that something _you_ do often?"

Tazuna, from where he had been taking a sip of his bottle, instantaneously spat out the mouthful of booze he was about to swallow. Sakura's palm met her face the same moment she began to cry silent tears of misery. I continued going on my merry way, whistling a random tune, all the while holding a raging Naruto at arm's length.

"This… this wasn't in the job description…" Kakashi-sensei muttered dejectedly. Sasuke only gave all of us a brief glance, probably thinking something along the lines of 'idiots'. It wasn't that hard to figure him out after all… he was surprisingly easy to understand huh? Come to think of it, I had always thought he'd be really hard to get along with. With his impeccable poker-face, he had always seemed like such a mystery. I guess that's why the girls always flocked to him (with that 'dark and mysterious' trend going on, I wasn't really surprised). But he was really easy to comprehend when one got used to his body language.

What if… what if Uchihas actually had a genetic disease which made them unable to show certain emotions after they reached a certain age?!

"I'm telling you, stop it. Whatever you're thinking, it's _wrong."_ Sasuke groaned, exasperated.

…Well, okay, maybe not. Wait, how the hell did he even-?

"Everything is practically written on your face."

 _Damn it._ And I had been working on my poker face for so long too.. no improvement? Not in the slightest? How depressing… but, maybe if I asked the Uchiha for some tips, he would-

… _Hold on._ I stopped walking, my whole body going stiff. Naruto, who had previously been walking right behind me, collided with my back."Ow! What the hell!"

Something was tickling at the edges of my senses- something strangely _familiar._ The odd thing was: I normally sucked at sensing any kind of chakra signature. The teacher always used to say that our chakra sense would further improve as time passed. But… it hadn't been _that_ long yet…

"Um… Moriko? Are you alright?" Sakura asked, waving a hand in front of my face. I blinked, staring at her in a daze. Shaking my head to get rid of the sudden dizziness that overcame me, I gave her a sheepish smile. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Just thought I saw something in the bushes…"

She rolled her eyes at me, obviously not picking up on my hint. "Geez, Moriko! Stop being weird and come!"

Grumbling, I continued walking alongside a now suspicious Sasuke and a very dubious Tazuna. Tch, just my luck to get stuck between the two most grumpy people in this group. Naruto wasn't helping either, with his constant mockery. "Hehehe! She called you weird! Weird, weird, weird girl!"

This was going to be one _hell_ of a long journey.

The longer we kept walking, the stronger I got the feeling that something was going to go _wrong_. Kakashi-sensei seemed to pick up on it too, going by the way he reluctantly put his icha icha back into his pocket.

This chakra was _definitely_ familiar- I had sensed it before. There was no mistaking it. It was faint, stood out like a sore thumb. But when and where? When had I ever been near _this_ kind of chakra? It was- it was _vicious_ , _dark_ and _so intense-_ I could feel my heartrate speeding up and shivers racing down my spine. Someone was watching us. Someone was following us. Something _murky_ and _terrifying_ and _predatory-_ wait… what… this..

It… this chakra-… It resembled _mine._

My steps faltered. My breaths went shaky and uneven.

This was bad. Bad, bad, _very bad._

Kakashi-sensei's eyes narrowed.

"You're behaving strange, Moriko. What is it now?" Sakura asked, eyebrows furrowed. For a moment, I just stared at her listlessly. Then, I flexed my clammy hands and smiled nervously. "N- No. Nothing" I desperately hoped nobody had heard the crack in my voice just now. Sakura didn't seem convinced by my answer, but she let it go, turning her face away with a 'hmph'.

A stared at my teammates a bit too long, in hopes they would finally _realize_ that something was terribly _wrong_ here. Couldn't they _feel_ it? This oppressing energy, clogging up my lungs and making my throat burn-

"Tazuna-san? Aren't there any ninjas in the country of wave?" Sakura asked, with big curious eyes. Damn it Sakura, not the time for questions.

"Of _course_ they don't have any ninjas there." I responded without any thought, still agitated at how oblivious my teammates could be. However, realization of what I had just said only dawned on me after an extended while of silence. I froze, turning back to find 5 pairs of eyes set on me in curiosity and suspicion.

Tazuna grunted. "Yes. We don't. An inexperienced genin like you seems to know an awful lot about _my_ country, hm?"

Uncomfortable with all the attention, I started walking a bit faster. "Uh… don't know where _that_ came from." Kakashi-sensei's doubtful stare and the inquisitive looks of my teammates were boring holes into the back of my head. My eye twitched. So that's how they wanted to play it? "Okay! You got me! Actually, I snuck into the forbidden archive in the library once and kinda read something I shouldn't have. But that's about it, 'cause I got thrown out of there as soon as I got caught."

Both Sakura and Sasuke looked at me like I had done something unbelievable (but both for different reasons). Sakura seized me from my shoulders, green eyes sparkling in excitement. "Th-that's-! Moriko you sneak! Why didn't you ever tell me this?" Then, in a small whisper she added, "S-so? How was it? Is that place really as mysterious as it's made out to be? C'mon, tell me, I'm your best friend, right?"

"Yeah…" I recoiled, wishing she'd stop looking at me like that. It was in moments like these, that her true character came out. I wasn't sure whether to call her an ordinary fangirl, or just a girl _behaving_ like an ordinary fangirl.

Sasuke, in contrast, glowered at me in vexation. "Stupid! Why'd you do such a thing? Don't you know what kind of punishment they give those who enter one of the forbidden archives? You're such an incorrigible moron!"

I stared at him, completely disregarding everything he'd just said, with the exception of one word. "…'incorrigible' moron? Wow, that's a new one. So the dictionary I gave you _did_ work after all."

Face heating up, he 'hmph!'ed once again, turning his head away. Seriously, what a tsundere. It wasn't like the world would end just because he admitted to using the present I gave him. Didn't Naruto and Sakura also receive one? Although, I sincerely doubted Naruto would use it.

Speaking of Naruto, he was currently looking at me in horror, pointing a rude finger at me. "Y-you… actually went _in_ the library?!"

That was my cue to just _let it go_ and _ignore_ him.

"Hey! Why the hell are all of you facing away from me?!"

Let's ignore the illiterate and focus on the problem at hand.

I was vaguely aware of Sakura having a conversation with Kakashi-sensei and the rest of the group listening to them attentively. Even my blonde teammate seemed to hang on sensei's every word. I took that opportunity to sort out my thoughts and decide on what to do from here on.

The first unnerving occurrence, was the fact that I had actually answered Sakura's question with the _correct_ answer. Despite having claimed that I had once snuck into the forbidden archives… that… was a lie. It was an utter and complete _lie,_ only spoken so that I could spare myself the complicated explanation.

The truth was, I myself was baffled at how quick that piece of information had come out of my mouth. Since when did I know _anything_ about the wave country? It was only yesterday I had heard anything _remotely_ concerning that place. I also doubted I had ever read anything about Nami no Kuni. Hell, even the academy hadn't taught us anything about that location because it was too small and insignificiant to bother with.

So how did I…? It was… truly a mystery.

Plus, that chakra… I only knew a single chakra type which resembled mine- and it was that of my mother's. Even if her's wasn't as violent and uncooperative as mine, our chakra still felt similar. What other person could possibly have a similar chakra signature, other than my mother?

This was all becoming very weird. And fast.

"… Only the leader of each hidden village is allowed to carry the name of 'Kage'-"

Something was there, something was _definitely_ there-

"- Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage and Tsuchikage, otherwise known as the 'Five Kages'-"

It was there, but where? _Where?!-_

"-They are the shinobi who reign over the tens of thousands of ninjas that exist in the countries throughout the world-"

 _DangerDanger_ _ **Danger-**_

 _ **-Wait.**_

It was… It was _gone?!_

What the _hell_ was going on?!

"You all just doubted Hokage-sama, didn't you?"

I could only absentmindedly nod along. What was I supposed to do? The freaking Hokage wasn't my current problem. Kakashi-sensei briefly glanced at my rigid form.

Something was wrong here. Something was _coming._ Something was _there,_ constantly going in and out of my sensing range. I had the distinct feeling that whoever bothered to stalk us liked teasing his prey.

"U-uh… Moriko, you're making a weird face again…" Naruto cautiously said from beside me. I robotically faced him, probably making him crap his pants with the way my mouth was set in a snarl. Well, seeing as my eyes were informing the blonde of all the things I could do to him with a kunai if he didn't shut the fuck up, his worries were justified. Seriously, how much effort did he put into making his voice as loud and annoying as possible? We were on a _dangerous_ mission, for Kami's sake! Did he not know what 'stealth' meant? " _ **Naruto…**_ **be a good boy and keep your trap shut for a sec.** "

One thing I liked about my team: they had more or less gotten used to the random bursts of KI I sometimes gave off. Other people would've either fainted (though that usually applied to _very_ weak people who had low tolerance to pressure) or frozen up for a good amount of time. I was proud to say that my team (and Tazuna, I guess) managed to stay conscious _and_ still keep moving- although, they did appear a bit shaken. Nevertheless, they were exemplary.

Nori and Tobio didn't count. They had gotten used to it a _long_ time ago.

Naruto gulped, doing a strange saluting motion before marching ahead. "A-aye Ma'am."

Sakura inched closer to sensei, eyeing me apprehensively. "K-Kakashi-sensei? I think Moriko doesn't feel well…" Sasuke grunted from beside her, rolling his eyes. "It's probably something the Dobe did again."

Naruto immediately whirled around. "OI, TEME-" " **What a** _ **beautiful**_ **voice you have. Be a shame if someone ripped out your vocal cords.** "

Shutting Naruto up. Level: Moriko.

The rest of the trip was spent in silence. Even Tazuna didn't dare say anything. Though, that was most likely because Kakashi-sensei kept giving him meaningful looks- I wasn't sure if he was trying to seduce the bridge builder or just had something stuck in his eye. Whatever he was trying to do, it looked creepy.

Hyper aware of everything around me, I had fallen to the back of the group. From where I was walking, I could see Sakura admiring her crush in silence (it looked _scary_ because she was starting to go cross-eyed), Tazuna rubbed his one arm in unease as I walked behind him and Kakashi-sensei kept an eye out for danger from where he was positioned behind me.

I had a hand on the handle of my sword, ready to go on the offensive if someone (or _something_ ) decided to attack us. I had calmed down considerably, going through all the scenarios we could be encountering. Smoke bombs as a distraction were out of the question, since it would hinder _my_ vision as well. I didn't know about the others, but my chakra sense wasn't developed enough for me to blindly pick them apart from the enemy.

I kept glancing at Kakashi-sensei a little too long, in hopes he would pick up on it. I was pretty sure he knew. He wasn't a jōnin for nothing, right?

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I felt my foot sink into a wet substance. Was I imagining it or had someone grunted in pain? Whatever. Ugh. Pulling my limb out of the water puddle with a loud 'squelch', I shot a glare at Sasuke who had predictably opened his mouth to say something snarky. "Not. A. _Word._ "

Naruto giggled anyway.

Stomping over to him, I gave him a noogie he'd never forget. By the end of it, his hair looked like a particularly shitty bird's nest. He whined. "Aw, what was that for!"

I sneered. "For being a brat."

Whoever hid in the shadows didn't seem to be too close. But that didn't mean they couldn't attack us. It never hurt to be too cautious, to be too aware-

And I had been right in my suspicions. I didn't feel happy about it _one bit_.

It happened too sudden for me to remember all the details: All I know is that instinct took over.

"WHAT THE-!?"

I only narrowly avoided getting chained to Kakashi-sensei as I rolled forward. With dawning horror, we watched as the two attackers _squeezed_ and- and _oh god bloodbloodBLOOD EVERYWHERE-_

Sakura screaming in horror. Naruto's uncontrollable shaking.

No. _No._ Control it. _Control it, Moriko._

 _You can't lose it here._

Sakura immediately took out a kunai and positioned herself in front of Tazuna. Swiftly, she threw a kunai at Naruto, which he caught effortlessly. The blonde might have looked ready to stick a kunai to the enemies' throats, but I could see him shaking with terror.

This was _it._

A _real fight-_ you either lived or died.

Sasuke skillfully pinned the chains of the two attackers to a nearby tree. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as my eyes met his. He nodded. The corner of my mouth twitched. The plan was clear. I felt excitement course through my veins. Every ounce of hesitation left my being as my smirk widened to a menacing grin. I could- I could _fight._

I could. I _would._

I could _kill_ and nobody would bat an eye-

Leaping into action, I pulled my sword out of its sheath.

With a powerful sidekick, I sent the attacker closest to Naruto flying. "NARUTO! Protect the client! Help Sakura!" I yelled from over my shoulder. The blonde ran as fast as a flash to Sakura's side, protecting Tazuna from the back. Sasuke was dealing with the other assailant, nearly knocking out the man's teeth.

What we _didn't_ expect, was for them to abandon their chains completely. Ignoring me and Sasuke, they raced up to Tazuna, ready to blow his head off with their claw-like equipments. Sakura shook with dread, tightening her grip on the kunai she was holding. Naruto, who would normally charge head first into an argument, stood shaking at Tazuna's other side.

Adrenaline was coursing through my veins, my heart beating painfully against my chest. My eyes focused on the scene before me, pupils dilating. The realization, the vivid image of what our current situation was, hit me like a load of bricks.

If I didn't do something _now_ , they would die.

They would _die._

 _Die._

 _Die?_

 _BLOODY HANDS HOLDING MINE, DESPERATELY PLEADING 'DON'T LEAVE ME'-_

I _could_ and I _would-_

With a burst of chakra, I appeared behind the black cloaked man, dodging his backwards kick by a hair length. Breathing unevenly, I could distantly feel the corners of my mouth twitching upwards and into a full-blown grin. The feel to _dominate,_ to _hurt_ \- Killing Intent was pouring out of me like water out of a faucet, suffocating the enemy before me. Before the man had a chance to react, I dug my elbow in the middle of his shoulder blades, feeling his vertebrae cave inwards as I _pushed._ A sickening crack was heard as the breath escaped his lips. I took the opening, thrusting the tip of my ninjatō into the back of his neck and through his throat.

And then I stopped because _he was dead now, wasn't he?_

Sakura and Tazuna looked on in horror as a strangled gurgle left the man's throat and he motionlessly fell to the ground. Naruto's blue eyes looked impossibly wide. Sasuke seemed to have frozen in his tracks.

Kakashi-sensei cursed, an unconscious body in his arms. "-tch, too late-"

I still had my sword through the assaulter's esophagus, staring in apathy at the red substance forming a puddle under my feet. I couldn't drop the predatory smile on my visage- it felt like my face had frozen that way.

The blood was warm. _So warm._ It smelled like iron. I couldn't take my eyes off of the vivid scarlet color. It was very pretty and oh so red.

 _Red red red, everything was so_ _ **red-**_

"-iko. _Moriko."_

Finally, I stopped staring at the red liquid dripping from my fingers. Looking up, I saw Kakashi-sensei's unreadable face.

"…Yes?" I inquired, wiping the sticky substance off of my hands with the hem of my hoodie. Forcibly wiping the unnatural grin off of my face, I stared at the serious expression sensei was directing to a horrified Tazuna. Somewhere in the bushes, I could hear Sakura throwing up. Naruto had turned away from the corpse, covering his mouth with his hands and an expression of panic on his face. Sasuke was left staring, eyes as wide as two full moons and recalling something not entirely pleasant.

But that man was gone, wasn't he? Dead, lifeless, _never coming back-_

"Ex- excuse me," I uttered, as I turned around and promptly retched.

* * *

"…' _Moriko',_ you say? The name sure doesn't suit her."

* * *

 **A/N: Hmmm... shorter than I would have liked. Well, anyway, Just wanted to wish you all happy holidays!**

 **Oh, and another fact: 'Moriko' ( 森子** **) means 'Forest child'. Come to think of it, it really doesn't suit her... what was I thinking?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello. Yes, me again.**

 **Thanks for following, favouriting and reviewing guys! It means a lot to me!**

 **To the reviewers:**

 _ **Shadow of God:**_ **You'll find out eventually ;D But, I mean, you can keep speculating if you like. And I do hope you will be surprised when I reveal the SI. I'll be trying hard :D**

 **xenocanaan:** **I'm glad you like it XD And do keep looking forward to Haku.**

 _ **SecretlyADayDreamer:**_ **Thank you, that makes me happy to hear :) I'll be updating whenever I can... when school decides not to be a bitch, that is :/ And when I'm able of planning out the next chapters.**

 _ **NightlyRowenTree:**_ **You again XD Somehow, one word sentences seem to suit you... Btw, thanks :)**

 _ **Elis Island:**_ **Thank you... dudette? XP Yes, Moriko _is_ pretty aggressive and unstable, isn't she? That's... uh... part of her charm? Haha**

 **So... to the story?**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

 _"Number 6. Come forward."_

 _I obeyed, my eyes never leaving the picture of the boy they had given to me. It looked familiar, oh so familiar._

 _The snake's grin widened, his long tongue darting out to lick his lips. I supressed a shiver._

 _"That is your brother, number 6."_

 _My mouth felt dry, blood draining from my face. This had to be a sick joke. It had to be._

 _" **He's** my what? He's my **what?** "_

* * *

The red haze clouding my vision had vanished by the time the others started regaining their composures. Face twisting into a grimace, I regarded the bloody red spot on the ground, left in the wake of my first kill. All I could feel was apathy toward the man whose throat I had shoved my blade through. It was his fault. It was his fault. Not mine.

He attacked us first- but he couldn't hurt us now. He couldn't, could he?

Kakashi-sensei had long gotten rid of the corpse, but I could still see those glassy eyes staring at me. Accusing me. The dried blood on my fingers reminded me- of my eyes automatically zeroing in on his throat, instinctually moving out of the way and my arm bringing the blade down on the exact spot I wanted it to hit with precision I shouldn't have possessed-

It… hadn't felt like my first kill.

A hand lay itself on my shoulder and I flinched, fighting the urge to just grab a kunai and- "Moriko… we'll have a talk after this." Recognizing Kakashi-sensei's stern voice, I let my arm fall back to my side, releasing the shuriken I had drawn from my weapons pouch.

The urge to puke welled up in my throat again but I pushed it down. I couldn't- couldn't. Not now. Not here.

Kakashi-sensei gave my shoulder one last squeeze, before walking over to Tazuna, who was sweating buckets. I stared at his perfectly unharmed visage, a low growl threatening to escape my lips. The numbness I felt slowly twisted itself into burning, passionate anger. The longer I stared, the more my desire to just scream in frustration increased. This bastard was the reason we had come here in the first place- and he could walk around without a scratch while we had the carry the burden of forever being reminded that we would- could- kill.

Because this- this was our profession.

I didn't care about his reasons. I had killed someone. I had killed someone and I had enjoyed it. But it wasn't my fault. It wasn't. This was my job. I was payed to do these things.

It wasn't my fault. It was his. I refused to believe I was the cause of this.

I needed a scapegoat and Tazuna just happened to be there, looking healthy and ignorant without caring about how it felt to shove a blade through someone's throat.

Sasuke and Naruto were arguing about something a couple of feet away. Something about Sasuke being an insensitive shitface and Naruto being a dumb-ass wuss. Well, maybe not exactly phrased that way, but I couldn't really be bothered with the details. I wasn't even sure why there fighting this time. Maybe fear and frustration combined resulted in aggressiveness? Probably.

The movement of something bright pink at the edge of my vision caught my attention. There Sakura was, looking down at her feet with a tremble to her lips. Her eyes were suspiciously red, indicating that she had, most likely, cried her eyes out while nobody was looking. She was wringing her hands together, seemingly surpressing herself from breaking down then and there. A heavy feeling settled into my stomach.

Sakura… hadn't prepared herself for this, had she?

Going by the short period of time I had spent with her, I could easily imagine her flowery image of the Shinobi life crumbling. Sakura, that girl, she wasn't like the rest of our team. One look and you could immediately tell that she had never really faced loneliness or true despair. She had her family supporting her, a comfortable life without any financial troubles and was generally raised in a friendly environment.

She wasn't like the emotinally dysfunctional Sasuke or the attention seeking Naruto. She wasn't like me, unusually violent and just a little unstable. No, she was Sakura: smart, shy, innocent Sakura. The pinkette was kept away from most horrors of the world and she was lucky in that sense.

Her attitude to work, the efforts she put in training (or rather the efforts she didn't put in training) and her only worry being the oh so terrible thought of getting separated from her crush: it all just screamed 'civilian'.

Nope. She hadn't been prepared for this. Nobody had warned her about this aspect of the ninja life. The lengths her parents had gone to make her happy had spoiled her view of the world instead: she hadn't seen this coming, because she simply didn't know. The things she had envisioned- pursuing a relationship with Sasuke, pushing Naruto away as not to get caught up in his pace, rubbing her victory in Ino's face- they had shattered in the span of mere seconds. Because in her world, In her dreams, killing people in cold blood was not included. Murdering people was not included.

Sakura was nothing but a dreamer. And she only seemed to realize it now.

I looked down at my own hands, inspecting the dried blood and dirt under my fingernails. Could I cope with reality? Could I really live like that, knowing that I was constantly under risk of being brutally dissected by a mentally unstable opponent or possibly becoming one myself?

The answer was short and simple: Yes.

Why, you ask? Tricky question actually. Thing was, I didn't care about what would become of me if I continued this profession.

All I had in my mind was how I would be of help to my important people with whatever monster I could become.

And whether they liked it or not, my team was included into that list of people. I couldn't just let this matter go without making someone pay. It was the first kill my team had witnessed- my first kill. Someone had to pay for that.

Kakashi-sensei's demanding voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "This one looks," (only one, because the other attacker was-) "like a hidden mist chūnin. They are known for their persistance. So, care to explain?"

Instead of answering, the man glared at Sensei through his bangs. He then directed his glower at me, his Killing Intent spiking the air. "How… how did you read our movements?! If it weren't for you…" The man began trashing, trying to get untied from the ropes attaching him to the tree. It was for naught, as Kakashi-sensei had most likely used a small portion of the poison those mechanical claws had possessed. It did a pretty good job, going by the way his movements started to become slow and sloppy.

Kakashi-sensei regarded his struggle with boredom. "On a sunny day like this, when it hasn't rained in days, there isn't going to be a puddle."

Puddle? Wait, did that mean- ooooh.

Then… that chakra I had sensed before… it wasn't coming from these two attackers?

('There's only one left now', I reminded myself.)

"If you knew that, why did you let these brats fight?" Tazuna inquired, with his gross dialect. Maybe if I punched him just once in the face, it would be enough of a reason?

Sensei sent a reprimanding look at me. I bristled, but stayed out of the fray nonetheless. Sensei could deal with this… yes, he was a jōnin, and even if he wasn't very reliable, he was the only adult here.

Tazuna didn't count. In my sight, he was currently worth less than the existence of a microscopic cell.

Naruto and Sasuke had stopped fighting, the Uchiha opting to focus on the scene before him instead. Naruto was nervously looking Sakura's way, not sure what to do about her fragile state. He didn't know how to deal with a vulnerable Sakura- for him, she had probably been a strong girl, wanting to be acknowledged. Someone who didn't back down from a challenge. And partly, she was just that. But… she wasn't ready.

Actually, none of us were. I hadn't missed Sasuke's uneasiness at the sight of blood. However much he tried to appear invincible, there were just some things he couldn't hide.

"Tazuna-san, there's something that doesn't add up here, don't you think?" Kakashi-sensei directed a meaningful look Tazuna's way, his body language changing to that of a predator intimidating his prey. My eyebrows furrowed. What? What did he…

My eyes widened as realization dawned on me.

The bridge builder hesitated, but seemed to be adamant on keeping up his façade. "What… what do you mean?"

How stupid. He was found out but he still insisted on lying to our faces?

I took a step his way, glaring straight into his eyes. He, in turn, took a tentative step back. "You know damn well what that means. This isn't a C-rank. You… **you** **lied**."

And oh did I want to punch the living daylights out of him. It was only because of Kakashi-sensei's hand on my shoulder that I didn't dare do something to the old man. But… I couldn't do anything to him directly, could I? So… I would have to continue the mission and have a little chat with the people causing this entire mess in the first place huh? My teammates had gone silent, looking at the bridge builder in alarm.

Sensei continued with his explanation, usually bored eyes turning sharp. "Our only mission was to keep you safe from thieves and gangs. We weren't informed of shinobi being after you. Our objective was to offer you protection until the completion of the bridge, but… this has now, at least, become a B-rank mission."

Naruto made a choking noise in the back of his throat while Sasuke muttered an exasperated 'are you kidding me?' under his breath. Sakura's eyes widened in panic. I grit my teeth, flexing my hands in an attempt to keep them from forming into fists instead. Kami knew I couldn't control myself.

"If we'd known ninjas were after you, this mission would have been set as a B-rank. I'm sure you had reasons," what reasons? "but it causes… problems when you lie about the mission. We are now operating outside of our duties." 'Problems'? He calls 'killing a stranger who most likely had a family somewhere waiting for him by messily shoving a blade through his throat' a mere 'problem'? Really now? Seriously? The man tied to the tree seemed to agree with me, going by his renewed trashing.

"Th-that's right!" Surprised, I turned toward a very twitchy Sakura. "We should quit this mission and go back! Besides, we have many opportunities to request another mission, right? We weren't assigned to protect him from shinobi and Moriko had to- she had to- we have to go back and get her checked-"

Before she could finish her rant, I appeared before her, putting a hand on each of her shoulders. She stopped her word vomiting, eyes going wide. Clearing my throat, I began to speak- because I knew, I knew, that she hadn't been ready. This conversation was long overdue. And I was pretty much the only girl here, aside from Sakura, so there was that- I would be able to calm her down… I mean, right? "Sakura, I'm pefectly fine. I already knew that I had to- we had to-um… do something like… well, this."

Good going there, Moriko. You're totally not butchering this conversation.

"What I mean is, it was unavoidable. This is our job. So whether it was Tazuna-san's fault or someone else's," I sent a glare his way, which he guiltily turned away from. "we still would have to do it sooner or later. Think about it, Sakura. What for did you become a ninja? Are you okay with… that? Are you really fine with it?"

There was silence as Sakura contemplated my words. While I wasn't good at smooth talk (more specifically, my social intelligence lay somewhere in the -50 areas), this was an issue that didn't necessarily need elaborate wording. I just had to make her understand what she had gotten herself into.

One minute, she was staring off into empty space, eyes blank. The other, she was violently sobbing against my shoulder. Violently, as in digging her nails really hard into my flesh and squeezing the life out of me.

Yes, she was distressed and all, but hurts damn it.

"I-I- I thought- I mean… I didn't- I sh-ould have th-thou-ought a-about it-t at least o-once I guess, b-b-but I r-r-really di-d-dn't- so I-"

The boys just watched in exasperation as Sakura blubbered incomprehensible words, getting her snot and tears all over my hoodie.

Kakashi-sensei, not really keen on dealing with this, grabbed Tazuna's arm and poofed away with him. I suddenly felt bitter betrayal. He was going all 'nope' on me in this situation? Fuck you, you gray haired bastard.

Fortunately, he had also abandoned my other two teammates. Sending a pointed look at both Naruto and Sasuke, I intensified my glare to the point that they could understand what I meant without having to actually tell them. Because honestly, I couldn't breath.

While Naruto proceeded on panicking, wildly flailing around to find something of help, Sasuke leveled his stare on me. His eyes reduced to unimpressed squints. His face read, 'why should I help you?'

Oh come on, he was still upset I left him with Sakura that time? Uchihas could really hold some grudges.

Thinking, I eventually had an idea. 'Three chapters of the chakra theory book', I mouthed to him over Sakura's shoulder. She had somehow started to just hysterically sob with the ocassional keening noise coming out of her mouth. Wow, she really went all out, didn't she? Sasuke arched his brows. I glared. Stupid fucker. 'Seven chapters', I lifted up seven fingers. He yawned, starting to slowly walk away. I gritted my teeth. Oh what the fuck.

'I'll let you borrow it. All of it', I mouthed. The second I saw him smirk, I felt my face flush in indignation. The absolute worst. Now I had to, like, look out for coffee spots and wrinkles and shit. Ugh. My precious baby. Ugh.

Sasuke, without a word, motioned at my bloody clothes and hands. At that moment, I truly felt stupid. Of course- Sakura absolutely hated getting her hair dirty. How did I not think of that? Shifting a little in her hold, I just stiffly said, "Um, Sakura, my clothes are all bloody-" "Uuuuuurrrgh,"

Okay. That did not work. Why didn't it work?

Sasuke looked alarmed. Even Naruto stopped his idiotic dance or whatever he was trying to do. Sakura had never, never, neglected her hair. She took great pride in it, since hers was a 'special color'.

Woah, this was serious.

"S-sakura-chan, it's going to be okay… Sensei, even though he's weird, he's got everything in control! And I'll protect you when it comes down to it!" Naruto enthusiastically told her. That just made the pinkette sob harder. I lifted my head to the heavens. Oh god he had just made it worse.

Sasuke rigidly walked over, looking lost. But I was drilling holes into his head and reminding him of our promise. Help me or no CT book. He scowled fiercely, but stepped forward anyway. "Sakura. It's alright now. The dangers were… incapacitated and we'll return as soon as we finish the mission."

She stopped trembling abruptly. Too abruptly. What…

"'finish the mission'?", she repeated.

"Finish the mission." Sasuke told her, mild annoyance on his face.

"We're going to what."

I, sweating profusely at what kind of turn this situation had taken, quietly replied. "Finish… the mission?"

"'Finnish the missed son?'"

"Finish. The. Mission."

I could only catch her in time as she fainted, mouth foaming.

There was silence as I held her slumped body upright by her underarms. Kakashi-sensei poofed back next to us, a disgruntled Tazuna at his side. "Do you kids really want to continue with the mission?", he asked us. I felt like he already knew the answer, but preferred to ask anyway. Sasuke gave a solid nod, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking up to them. Naruto looked uncertain at first. Then, face determined, he replied with a steady, "Yes! I won't give up on this mission! I'll show you what I'm capable of!"

Tazuna snorted. "Good luck with that, kid."

I steadied Sakura in my arms and ignored Kakashi-sensei's inquiring stare in favor of dissecting Tazuna with my eyes alone. "Fine. But-" Dumping Sakura on Naruto, who yelped and almost fell over from her weight, I strode to stand right before Tazuna. He was taller than me, but he didn't have the lethal body a shinobi had. Nor did he have the intense stare which pinned people in place and effortlessly intimidated enemies. **"I demand an apology. I don't take well to liars."**

He flinched back, face going white. "What are you-"

I bared my teeth, having every bit the intention of making my point clear. **"We're disregarding our duties by helping** **you.** **Your village could be assaulted by a bunch of Shinobi by the time we arrive there with backups from Konoha. We are, essentially, risking our lives for** **you.** **So, please do tell- are you willing to cast your pride aside for a moment to possibly save your home, or are you going to be the dog biting the very owner who feeds him? Apologize. And make it** **good.** **"**

Naruto's eyes widened at the blatant display of aggressiveness. I kept my eyes on Tazuna, eyes never leaving his face. He looked everywhere but at me. Kakashi-sensei was watching it all happen in silence, raising an eyebrow when Tazuna sent a pleading look at him. Of course, sensei pretended he didn't see that.

Gritting his teeth, Tazuna made a decision. Although, he didn't seem happy with it.

Dropping into a low bow (Saikeirei? He actually knew that one?), he said with a voice barely above a whisper, "I'm sorry. I lied. I shouldn't have and I'm so very sorry. Please, help me save my country. I need your help. I need Konoha's help."

I regarded the man with a upturn to my lips, unable to hide the glee at seeing such an arrogant man kneeling before me in regret. I never had been good at hiding emotions. He was poor. He was desperate. Pitiful, pathetic, helpless. He needed our power.

Why not lend it to him? Just this once?

"Okay!", I chirped. Ignoring about everyone's incredulous looks with the way I had just completely dismissed his complete failure of an apology. I bounced forward and onto the road. "So, which way?"

* * *

When I had decided to be a ninja, it was because I wanted to make money to cover mom's debt. But I hadn't always known about the circumstances.

I had just been 5, and hadn't really understood the bad aspects of mom's job. She rarely let me go outside, because the neighbors were complaining that I was 'weird and her chakra is suffocating'. Tch, ninja neighbors. Not as cool as it sounds.

So, I was always left with a shitload of books (borrowed from the library of course) at the house, while the door was locked and mom was outside doing… unsavory things. I had recently learned reading, with the help of Maa-chan, one of mom's co-workers. And to her surprise, I loved it. I loved books and reading them and trying to come up with alternate scenarios.

('Maa-chan' wasn't actually her name, but I didn't get to ask her. Because one day, she disappeared. Just like that. I should have known there was something wrong with her pretty, but strained smiles.)

Books… varying from romance, friendship and tradegy to psychology, weaponry and sociology. It didn't matter if I didn't understand the majority of it. I just wanted to read, to escape from the lonely silence which almost always threatened to swallow me up in the seemingly big, empty apartment. I wanted a distraction and I got it. In the form of words, illustrations and author's notes.

And that was when I noticed the first 'wrong'.

How there should always be a 'husband' in the family. That the married mommy does, under no circumstances, go out with various different men. Because she belongs to the 'daddy'. But he wasn't there… didn't that mean it was my responsibility to keep her from doing those things?

Why didn't I have 'friends'? Was that because I didn't go out often?

Why did the falcons, those lovely birds, always come when I whistled, but dogs and cats immediately shied away?

Why didn't mom have any other friends aside from 'Maa-chan'? Why did people on the street sneer at her whenever she took me on a stroll? Why did I have sharp teeth, but other people didn't? Why was I so tall?

Why? Why? Why?

The countless amount of questions a child is capable of producing can get suffocating for parents. And mom just wasn't prone to pressure. She must have said something along the lines of 'oh what the hell, she's just a kid anyway', before she started explaining all her problems to me. It was a convenient thought, to blurt out all your problems to a child and think that she'll forget them all next day.

No. That isn't what happens.

The apparent stress lines on her visage, the wild waving of her hands and jumbled words coming out of her mouth in incoherrent sentences- I remembered all of them. Because she was mom and therefore, I had to pay extra attention to her.

It affected me to see her that way. Unhappy. Stressed. Tired.

It can affect a child to see their parents stressed and tired and unhappy. An it makes the child tired and unhappy.

So, going by the books I had read, I decided to earn money. Preferably, in a not-boring, not-sexually-active way. Sure, there were other physical jobs I could do, like… civilian transport of stuff or bodyguarding… yeah, well, the latter was out. I wasn't ready to be somebody's bitch. Bodyguards had rules. Too many rules. Too many damn rules which I had always read in a high-pitched, annoying kind of accent because 'no going for toilet breaks'? Really?

That was about the time mom had gotten me a new book. 'Tales of Gutsy Ninja'.

It wasn't the greatest masterpiece ever written. It wasn't that original or didn't have elaborate sentence structures like most books did. Like the writer had tried to to convey to the reader, that in the heat of the moment, everything became messed up. But, it was interesting and thought provoking in a way only bestseller books had affected me.

The life of a ninja was hard. It was exciting and sad and eventful. A ninja had many friends. He was loyal and strong, protecting his family at any cost.

Yes, protecting his family at any cost. Even in expense of their own life.

At six years of age, one year older than when most children entered the academy, but whatever. I popped out the question that nearly gave my mother a heart attack. "Mom, how can I be a ninja?

I didn't need the stupid 'daddy' figure who was never there. I just had to fill an extra gap… that was all.

* * *

The journey to Nami no Kuni lasted two days.

At first, the atmosphere had been thick and uncomfortable. Sakura was furious with us, for not confiding in her in the making of this decision. Then, her tenseness had slowly lessened as time passed. Nobody was going to attack us- not now, at least. She had pretty much whined about how moist the air was and how unpleasant it was having her long hair stick to her neck for the majority of the journey.

So, I adviced her to cut it.

And you know what? She actually did cut it. Imagine my shock. Since when did Sakura of all people listen to what I said?

Well, tried to cut it. But blunt kunai get no shit done and so I had to lend her mine.

After seeing what a poor job she had done, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

"Wow, Moriko! You should totally become a hairdresser if you ever think of retiring! This feels so much better!" Her ridiculously long hair was now shoulder-length, one of my unused bandages working as a hair tie. Somehow, her hair was kinda spiky. I didn't know why, but it bothered me. Her hair was spiky. Sasuke's hair was spiky. Naruto's hair was super spiky.

What kind of conditionings did they even use?

"I think I'll just sort of, you know, die on the job. Shit happens, you know. So, no, I won't be retiring." Scowling she crossed her arms. "So morbid," she muttered.

"Sorry, not sorry, for being morbid. But hey, ninjas."

"I get it. Now please stop."

Everybody else was kind of sleeping on their feet. Naruto had had the middle watch last night- he'd gotten the short end of the stick. Without his loud rambling and admittedly entertaining fights with Sasuke, it was quiet. Tazuna had resigned himself to the 'grumpy client' stereotype and pretty much grunted at anything Kakashi-sensei said or asked.

My mind drifted to Kakashi-sensei getting rid of the other attacker. I was pretty damn sure I didn't want to know what he had done with him. That same dark chakra signature I had felt before was always going in and out of my range, lurking somewhere close. Lately, it had been intsentifying. So, that chakra hadn't come from the two demon brothers…

I was curious now… there had been so many opportunities to attack us while our guards had been down. Why weren't we dead yet?

The closer we got to Nami no Kuni, the thicker the fog got. I wasn't feeling safe at all. The foreign chakra was getting stronger the closer we got to our destination. There were traces of the dark energy clinging to the fog- I doubted that the rest of the trip would go peaceful. The demon brothers most likely had had allies.

But that wasn't a problem, right? After all, I had killed before.

I could do it again.

I would do it again.

There was something seriously wrong with the quiet acceptance I felt when it came to killing. I knew that much. Kakashi-sensei had said that feeling apathy was normal… in the case of senior ninjas. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did in the wake of my first kill. He suggested a check-up in the hospital later. That didn't make me all too happy, but I most probably didn't have any say in this matter. My mother would go crazy if I didn't tell her.

We were currently in a boat, seeing as there wasn't a bridge with which we could have crossed over the river. I sat next to Sakura, leaning over the edge to get a good look at the ripples in the water, caused by the boat. I wondered what kind of creatures lived in this waterway. As ridiculous as it sounded, I briefly imagined sharks, giant squids and killer whales making themselves ready to jump out of the water. I especially didn't like those asshole-giant squids. They were absolute monsters coming from the depths of hell. Plus, they couldn't be eaten like their smaller versions. Essentially, they were useless and terrifying.

Sakura shivered, trying to warm up her bare arms. The air had taken a turn from being hot and moist to cold and moist. I couldn't decide which I hated more. "The mist is so thick. I can't see what's ahead."

I looked up at the rower, questions swirling in my head. "Mister, how do you know where we are going?"

He barely glanced at me as he slightly lifted his hat for me to see. He had a compass taped tightly to the inner curve of the hat, pointing to the east. "Ah." I nodded in understanding. So that's how.

Silence fell upon us once again. The bridge builder had informed us of how dangerous it would be if Gatō's men found out about him coming back to complete the bridge. Of course, the second I heard the name 'Gatō', I flipped the fuck out. Mom was working for that piece of fucking shit. If we made him our enemy, what would happen to mom?

Kakashi-sensei had to assure me that nothing bad would happen to my mother. I reluctantly calmed down. One, because maybe I could get her out of that company that way and two, we had come this far: it would be a waste of time not to do anything about that miscreant bastard. Plus, I had to take my anger on someone.

"We should be able to see the bridge soon. If we move along the side of the bridge, we'll be at the wave country." The rower dude spoke. He looked really uncomfortable. Well, he was risking his life by coming out here, so he deserved a pat on the back for that.

The bridge came into view. Naruto couldn't keep his stupid mouth shut. He spoke. With his loud ass voice. "WOAH! IT'S HUUUUGE!"

I facepalmed. The rower did a double take. "Hey, be quiet! We're using this boat and hiding in the mist. That's why I'm rowing instead of using the engine. In other words, we'll be in trouble if we get caught."

Naruto immediately clamped his mouth shut, an apologetic look on his face. At least he had the decency to feel ashamed. Sasuke muttered 'idiot' under his breath.

Kakashi-sensei narrowed his eyes. "Hm… Tazuna-san… how about more details about this 'Gatō'?"

A *crack* sound was heard. Both sensei and Tazuna sent me cautious glances. I lifted my hand from where a big chunk of wood had crumbled into tiny splinters. The rower may have whispered a devastated 'my boat,' but that wasn't important. "Oh! Don't mind me. Go on. Just thought I saw a mosquito here somewhere…"

Good cover, Moriko. Never mind the fact that mosquitos lived in hot and humid places, not… somehow cold and humid. How did that even work? Weird feeling.

Sensei's eye-smiled at Tazuna. "On second thought, lets have this conversation after we've arrived. In private."

I clucked my tongue. So, no eavesdropping? Aw.

Silence reigned for rest of the boat trip, the only sounds being the gentle lapping of the waves. I was spending my time staring off into the river, trying to somehow look for fish underwater. What a productive ninja I was. Very busy, much action. I probably should have been more alert but we had been walking for the majority of the day, so I deserved a break.

Naruto was gaping up at the gigantic bridge, admiring its height. Sakura and Sasuke were too, though I doubted they would admit it later if asked. I couldn't muster enough energy to look up, so… inspecting the waters it was. You know, going with the flow… hah…ugh. Terrible. Puns had never been my strength.

"We'll be there soon. It looks like we've avoided detection so far, but just in case, we'll take the route that has vegetation. It will make it harder to spot us." The rower whispered to Tazuna. The bridge builder thanked him, eyes earnest. My eyes narrowed. He wasn't just the drunkard he made himself out to be, I could see that. The rower held respect for him and Tazuna hadn't taken a single sip out of his bottle ever since we had arrived at the river. My perception of him had changed from 'microscopic being' to 'inanimate object with feelings'. That was progress, believe it or not.

I would have wanted to continue fantasizing about random ass things, but the sight of Nami no Kuni simply took my breath away.

Tall trees, vines in all shades of green crawling up their barks and branches. Their roots were underwater, with their mossy surfaces reflecting on the clear blue water. Mist hung above the tree lines, creating a mystifying atmosphere. Everything quiet, other than the sound of seagulls and whooshing of the waves. The smell of salty but fresh sea air- here, the fog didn't feel artificial.

It was beautiful. It was comforting.

It was… home?

At that thought, I mentally slapped myself. No. Not home. Home was were mom lived. This was merely a poor country we had decided to help on a whim. What the hell? What was that?

Disturbed, I shoved those those musings to the far back of my mind. I didn't need them- I really didn't.

The rower dropped us off by the dock, not forgetting to wish us good luck before we continued our trip. Come to think of it, I should have expected Naruto to pull some stupid shit. He always did. I should have but I didn't. It ended with me murdering a poor row of shrubberies because Naruto wanted to act cool and I automatically entered 'Killer-mode'. I hoped this kind of reaction wouldn't be a permanent thing.

Of course, he got an earful from none other than Sakura. "'Just a rat', my ass! Stop trying to act cool, moron!" I sheathed my sword, sighing in relief. It hadn't been an attacker. If it had been, then… I didn't want to think about it.

Normally, I would've given Naruto a clear warning that he should not do that again. But my senses were off and that chakra- overwhelming, predatory, **dangerous-** it was too close. Too close. I was suffocating in it. The chakra-fused fog was back, though not as dense as before.

But someone was there. It was definitely there.

"There-!" "OH FUCK-"

My kunai embedded something with a loud 'splat'. Slowly creeping up to the bushes, Naruto shrieked girlishly at the sight of a poor, beheaded white rabbit, its blood splattered everywhere.

"…guess what we'll have for dinner tonight." Kakashi-sensei added dryly.

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU?! IT WAS YOUR FAULT THAT POOR RABBIT DIED!" Sakura yelled at the blonde. Naruto looked guilty as hell, looking at the rabbit and then at Sakura in panic. "B-but-! Somebody is after us, I swear! Besides, Moriko-!"

" STOP THAT CRAP! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO STARTLED HER IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

The vein on my forehead felt like it was about to burst. I grabbed Naruto by his collar, sligthly lifting him up because of our height differences. **"Look here. We're on a mission and you should stop fucking around!"**

He glared right back, which was admittedly an impressive feat. "I know that! I'm just- I'm just trying to be useful, 'ttebayo!"

"Not doing a very good job there," Sasuke muttered.

"Teme!"

Eyes widening, I abruptly shoved Naruto on the ground. He yelped and would have probably landed on Sasuke were it not for the raven boy moving away in time. "What the he-"

 **It was here-**

"Get down!"

I didn't have time to be surprised. Blood pumped through my veins, my vision focusing on every little detail and flaw in this situation. Everything seemed to go in slow motion for me, as I threw myself to the ground next to Naruto and watched a large- large- sword sailing above us in the air. It was fast- it shouldn't have been that fast, being such a gigantic sword.

However, when I saw how far away its destination was (a sturdy-looking tree, I curtly noted), I snatched Naruto's shuriken (which he had previously used) from his hands, with speed I hadn't known I possessed.

With a flick of my wrist, chakra poured out of my hand and into the weapon and I threw it.

The shuriken hit the sword midair- and was promptly launched into a tree. Right through a fucking, 20 inch wide tree.

Essentially, that had been a useless move. And oh, hey, chakra loss.

Whoever threw that big-ass buster sword was a fucking monster.

The sword, on the other hand, was launched to the side by the force my shuriken had hit it with. Granted, unlike my shuriken, it just skidded to the ground a few yards away. It didn't have the desired effect, but I felt too lightheaded to care. I could feel my fingertips tingling from the leftover chakra. If this much chakra hadn't been enough to stop it in its tracks immediately, then-

Either I was lacking in strength and overestimating myself or the aggressor this time was a real. Fucking. Monster.

I mean look at that sword right there. Who the hell had enough strength to lift that up? It was twice my size, for fuck's sake.

And then he appeared.

Everybody else had stood up by now too, and was gaping (sensei excluded) at the tall, imposing man before us. He was freaking huge- 183cm?- and he could actually lift that sword. Muscles rippling everytime he moved, his predatory leer making my blood boil in excitement at the prospect of a fight and the most aggressive presence I had ever felt before.

This chakra. Yes, this was the chakra I had been looking for.

 **"Aa… my grand entrance is ruined now."**

A chill ran up my spine when he directed his stare to me- and in no way was it because of fear. His voice was low and grating, hurting my ears actually.

I didn't bother hiding my wide smirk. Chakra coursing through my body, the blood pounding in my ears, fingers itching to grab my own blade- who could deny this exhilarating feeling?

A wave of Killing Intent washed over me- but it wasn't the stranger's. No, it was Kakashi-sensei, standing before me and blocking my sight of that monster. His one eye was on me, pinning me in place. "You will not move. Unless I say so."

…tch.

My smirk formed itself into a snarl. I grit my teeth in an attempt to surpress the energy building up inside of me. He couldn't just- he couldn't just decide on that. He- he couldn't.

I had to do something. Move. Slay. Kill. Anything.

Anything to rid myself of the itching feeling in my limbs. To release the chakra building up inside of me.

Behind me, Sasuke and Sakura had shifted into fighting stances. Naruto was exuding pure excitement, only continuing to gape at the man in front of him. No fear: only anticipation. Belatedly, I realized that I hadn't been the only one that command had been directed to.

And then, sensei spoke: "…well, well. If it isn't the Hidden Mist's missing-nin, Momochi Zabuza. Everybody, get back. This one's on a whole other level. "

I bit my lip, resisting the urge to snap back at him. This man… the stranger before us- his face looked familiar. His chakra was similar. That stance, those eyes, the infuriating smirk crinkling up his mask of bandages…

Silence reigned in the clearing. Tazuna had shrinked back, regarding everything with apprehension.

The potent Killer Intent Kakashi-sensei was emitting did not faze this 'Zabuza' guy. But despite the gray haired man slowly pulling down his headband to prepare for a fight, Zabuza's eyes stayed on me.

Me, of all the people here.

And the jōnin seemed to realize that. "It will be a little though… unless I do this…" he muttered to himself, standing protectively in front of us. I could feel my blood boiling at being left out of whatever battle they would be having. He couldn't exclude me- I couldn't just stand still while thinking of the prospect of a fight- I just couldn't.

The fuck was he doing, thinking I would stay out of it? I had every bit the intention of crashing their fight.

 **"You appear to be sharingan Kakashi,"** Sasuke took a sharp intake of breath, **"But, I'm sorry to say…"** his eyes shifted to me again, the corners of his eyes creasing, **"my business is not with you. The old man is mine and so is the girl."**

I froze, but in terror and confusion. What… had he just said?

Naruto stepped forward witout hesitation, his fists clenched. "HA?! SAY THAT AGAIN, YOU BROWLESS FREAK! I'LL PROTECT SAKURA-CHAN WITH MY LIFE!"

Sakura punched him so hard I thought I could see a tooth flying. Her arms were trembling when she retracted them, giving Naruto the most furious look she could muster. Her face had gone red in frustration and she shot an anxious look at me. "Idiot. It- it's n-not… me he's talking about."

The blonde's eyes widened. "…eh?"

I clucked my tongue, pulling out my ninjatō out of it's sheat. **"…Who are you?"**

Something in his eyes changed as he stared back at me in amusement. **"They've trained you to be a lowly dog of Konoha, I see. Is it fun, being with the tree huggers?"**

As I prepared to lunge at him, Kakashi-sensei held me back by my collar. Just as I was about to scream a few choice words at him, everything I wanted to say died in my throat at the sight of his one, bloody red eye.

Sh… sharingan? What the hell?

"Surround and protect Tazuna-san." His red eye gravitated to my wide eyed visage, "Do not enter the fight. That's the teamwork here."

Snapping out of my daze, I slapped his hand away and growled in agitation. "Understood." I spat, before making my way next to Sakura and Sasuke. I didn't forget to give Sasuke a good old shoulder bump to snap him out of his cross-eyed mindfuck state. Naruto nervously followed my movements, his eyes flickering between me and Zabuza. "They… they kind of look alike…"

His voice went unheard.

Everything was becoming hard to focus on. The heavy chakra Zabuza was infusing into this fog was getting to me. I could hear snippets of the conversations going on around me, but most of the time, I could only feel the chakra inside of me buzzing in aggravation. Their lips were moving, but the sound of my heart pounding drowned all possible sounds. Red was slowly creeping onto the edges of my vision. This wasn't good. It wasn't good. Something was happening to me, and I did not like it.

It was as if a gaping black hole was opening up beneath me, ready to swallow me whole.

Who was this man. Who was he? Who? **Who?**

"… **The man who copied over a 1000 jutsu,"**

He wasn't someone I knew, but I could've sworn-

"…there, on top of the water...!"

Yes- no- yes, I did know-

"…silent killing expert… don't notice until you're already dead…"

The following words, however, I could understand with perfect clarity.

" **Liver, lungs, spine, cavical vein, neck, brain, kidneys and heart."** I could hear the smirk in his voice and-

"… **which one should I go after?"**

-And I lost it.

I failed to hear whatever the fuck sensei was saying to us. I didn't notice Sasuke trembling like a leaf either- no, all I could focus on was that intense chakra, clinging to the air and the water and-

Red red red, so much red-

" **Bring it on, bitch."**

I lodged a kunai deep in the clone's throat. It dispersed with a splash, the remaining water soaking my clothes wet. Then, in a mad dash, (ignoring the screams and yells-) I raced to where I could feel his chakra, everywhere-

It was as if I was watching it all happen in my mind's eye. Everything exploded into action.

I was slicing through his clones, one by one, while Kakashi-sensei was busy fighting with the real one. I simply didn't have the time nor motivation to gape at his amaze-balls techniques.

I didn't care if it was only clones I was killing off-

I just had to do something, anything-

" **UCHIHA! Stop flinging your shitty shuriken wherever you please! That was** **my** **kill!"** I shouted, not caring if the clone before me had almost come this close to beheading me.

"Says you! You're the one always dancing around and getting in my way!" Sasuke growled from where he had helped Naruto take down another Zabuza clone.

"G-guys! Not the right time for this!" Sakura squeaked, deflecting several kunai.

"Yah! We gotta fight together!" Naruto shouted, flinging a clone over his shoulder.

" **Shut up blondie! I'm tryna kill water entities here- don't go breakin' my concentration!"**

"Hey, I'll let you know-" his sentence was cut short when his feet were swiped from under him, making him fall on his ass. Before the bunshin had time to deliver a quick killing blow, I slammed into it with a flying kick, effectively dispersing it. Walking over to the blonde, I offered a hand for him to take. **"Let's save it for later, then."**

Naruto took a look at my hand and then grinned, grabbing it. "Sure! Let's kick some ass!"

I didn't even know why there were so many Zabuza clones- how could that man go around making so many?

"Be careful! Some of them have senbon!" Sakura yelled.

Senbon? Senbon? Really? What the fucking damn hell was going on here? Unless this man was some kind of genius god of super hax powers, he couldn't possibly prepare so many clones and have each of them fight with completely different styles. My eyes widened briefly. Unless-

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

Damn it.

" **Seriously sensei? Are you serious? What the fuck happened to the 'super elite jōnin' thing?!"**

From where the gray haired man had gotten himself trapped in a water prison jutsu, his nervous sweating was obvious. "No… I… I've underestimated him…"

Zabuza snorted. **"Even your own students are dissing you, Hatake. Pitiful."**

"Mind your own business, browless freak!" Naruto screamed, a kunai threateningly raised towards the taller man.

I just wanted to close my eyes and go home. There was only so much bullshit I could take.

"… **Guys. Strategy time."**

We didn't have time to thoroughly discuss about the pros and cons of our tactics. No, all we had was brief looks and curt words. But hey, we were ninjas- reading between the lines was our specialty. Our plan wasn't foolproof, but it was, like, the best plan we could come up in 30 seconds.

Kakashi-sensei screaming at us to 'get out of here!' was total bullcrap.

We weren't going to leave that sucker here, however much I wished I could sock that man just once in the face. He was fucking annoying, but he was our sensei. The hell we were gonna leave him here to die.

Decisions made, we set our determined looks towards the swordsman. He smirked at us under his mask, eyes flashing with bemusement. **"Oh? The brats think they have a chance against me? Wearing forehead protectors, calling themselves ninjas,"** a glare sowly formed on his face, eyes glazing over. **"** **Ridiculous.** **A real shinobi has had numerous brushes with death. They have sullied their hands with other's blood, murdered innocent people, went through their own, personal** **hell- So,** **once you're good enough to be a threat to me,"** his chakra radiated manic glee. **"then you can start calling yourselves real ninjas. Hm? What do you think about that, little Moriko?"**

This man was insane.

Insane, because who wouldn't be after the whole events he had probably gone through? Insane, because he thought it would actually faze me. Who was this man? Where had he gotten the permission to call me by my given name?

I had become a shinobi for a reason. And I damn well knew what my job entitled me to do.

For once, even Naruto was silent. Tazuna's incredulous look was on me and my teammates were exchanging nervous glances. I grit my teeth.

No. The plan would go on. They couldn't hesitate now. They couldn't back out.

I shot forward, preparing a bunch of clones as I raced toward the man. I sliced right through the water clone he had been preparing. **"Are we gonna do this or what?!"**

And my words seemed to knock down their barriers made out of anxiety and fear. There was no room for hesitation in a ninja's life- that was just the way things worked, however wrong it may be.

"PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE FUTURE HOKAGE, YOU FREAK! LET'S GET WILD!" Yep, we needed that one, Naruto. **"Let's get wild, eh?"** I muttered under my breath.

Zabuza laughed. **"Going to keep playing ninja? When I was your age… I-"**

" **OKAY! We get it! You had a terrible childhood and stuff! I'd advice you to tell that to someone who actually** **cares** **though! Now stop interrupting us with your demotivational 'life is shit' speeches!"** I was just done. I wanted to end this fast. I was losing control and I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep the red from appearing again.

This needed to end. Quickly.

"Naruto!" Sasuke gave the signal.

Just as Zabuza had prepared to strike me down with one hand, I stopped in my tracks- and jumped. The large windmill shuriken Sasuke had thrown was avoided by me and was now making its way towards the alarmed swordsman. My two bunshin continued running from the sides, away from the actual fight.

The hulking man, however, caught the shuriken effortlessly. **"Heh, is that all-"** His eyes widened in haste as he jumped over another shuriken, which had been hiding in the shadow of the real one. I smirked.

Sakura whispered a quiet 'Katsu' the same time the "Shuriken" changed back into Naruto. "EAT THIS!"

Zabuza had no other choice. He had to fling away both himself out of Naruto's firing range and the paper bomb Sakura had attached to Sasuke's original shuriken. Kakashi-sensei was abruptly released from the jutsu. However, Zabuza still couldn't escape the explosion in time, because "my" clones (which had actually just been two of Naruto's clones transformed into me), had sneaked tripwire under him right at the same moment he had jumped. It sent the large man off balance.

And that was my clue.

With a burst of speed, I locked the disoriented man in a neckhold, sinking a kunai into his shoulder and bringing the other one up to his throat to-

"WAIT, MOR-"

I probably shouldn't have done that, if that was the cause of things ending the way they did.

The thing I saw last was a porcelain white mask with distinct markings, before a sharp object pierced right through my neck.

I blanked out.

* * *

 **A/N: Man, I hate leaving you guys to wonder about the SI. That is, if you've got a clue already... But whatever!**

 **Fact of the day: Moriko really _does_ bite in her sleep. Her mother isn't sure why. Poor Mori always had to sleep far away from her companions whenever they had a camping trip at the academy. "-_-**


End file.
